Crime World

Police in Northern Ireland assemble a list of twenty people under investigation for the murder of Robbie Lawlor. While some of the names are very familiar, others are not.

This episode of Double Cross: The Murder of Robbie Lawlor was originally released in January 2025.

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Robbie Lawlor's time in Belfast is short. In the aftermath of his death, who is in the frame for his murder?

This episode of Double Cross: The Murder of Robbie Lawlor was originally released in January 2025.

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After the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods, Robbie Lawlor heads to Belfast, and a whole new world of trouble.

This episode of Double Cross: The Murder of Robbie Lawlor was originally released in January 2025.

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Robbie Lawlor's response to the taunting of the teenagers who stole his gym bag could not have been predicted—the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods shocked the world.

This episode of Double Cross: The Murder of Robbie Lawlor was originally released in December 2024.

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Robbie Lawlor’s involvement in the burgeoning Drogheda feud sparks fear amongst the gardaí, while his erratic and violent behaviour terrifies those close to him. 

This episode of Double Cross: The Murder of Robbie Lawlor was originally released in December 2024.

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How did Robbie Lawlor earn his fearsome reputation as a cold-blooded killer?

Nicola Tallant looks at his early crimes, and the ruthless murders that made his name.

This episode of Double Cross: The Murder of Robbie Lawlor was originally released in November 2024.

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When Robbie Lawlor was murdered outside a house in the Ardoyne area of Belfast in April 2020, reporters were left with more questions than answers.

What was one of Ireland’s most feared criminals doing in the north? Why had he crossed the border? Who had the audacity to arrange for him to be shot while up there?

This episode of Double Cross: The Murder of Robbie Lawlor was originally released in November 2024.

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The murder of Robbie Lawlor in Belfast in April 2020 is sure to be one of the biggest gangland stories of the decade.

In an eight part podcast series called Double Cross, Crime World investigated just what happened in the run up to and aftermath of the broad daylight assassination of Ireland’s most wanted.

As we run the series over the coming week, Nicola talks to Niall Donald as we update our listeners and viewers on the cases before the courts to date.

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Staring down decades in prison, Bomber attempts a final gamble by orchestrating a fake weapons surrender from behind bars to trick the authorities into granting him a lighter sentence. 

The deception backfires spectacularly when compromised encrypted messages unmask his lies, resulting in additional years of jail time and dragging his own son and family into the ruins of his collapsed empire.

The Science of Fear: The Bloody Reign of Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was originally released as a subscriber-only series in January 2026 on crimeworld.com.

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A seemingly trivial pink stun gun found atop a kitchen cupboard provides the legal hook to pull Bomber from his life of luxury and lock him behind bars while investigators build their massive narcotics case. 

The untouchable persona of the cartel boss finally shatters during a high-stakes interrogation, where the sheer weight of the evidence causes him to physically collapse as the reality of a 25-year sentence sets in.

The Science of Fear: The Bloody Reign of Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was originally released as a subscriber-only series in January 2026 on crimeworld.com.

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As Bomber waits in the shadows of his English mansion, a single forgotten logistics document from an Irish raid allows the National Crime Agency to bridge the gap between his legitimate front and his billion-euro drug empire. 

Meticulous digital forensics begin to peel back the layers of his encrypted secrecy, exposing “The Gaffer” as the cold CEO of a transnational narcotics machine that law enforcement is finally ready to dismantle.

The Science of Fear: The Bloody Reign of Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was originally released as a subscriber-only series in January 2026 on crimeworld.com.

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Bomber’s empire begins to unravel, as an innocuous scrap of paper found in a raid of a weapons-filled industrial unit in Dublin gives international law enforcement a thread to follow in their investigations. Meanwhile, a lavish marriage ceremony in Dubai attracts a lot of attention.

The Science of Fear: The Bloody Reign of Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was originally released as a subscriber-only series in January 2026 on crimeworld.com.

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The criminal underworld is shattered when gunmen armed with AK-47s storm a Dublin hotel weigh-in, leaving Bomber’s brother-in-law dead and igniting a “psychotic” revenge feud that turns the city into a war zone.

Forced out of the shadows, Bomber stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Daniel Kinahan at a military-style funeral, a public show of defiance that finally earns him and the gang the undivided attention of international law enforcement.

The Science of Fear: The Bloody Reign of Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was originally released as a subscriber-only series in January 2026 on crimeworld.com.

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In the “champagne years” of the international drug trade, Bomber emerges as a global power-broker, helping Daniel Kinahan forge a lethal “Super Cartel” alliance with Dutch and Italian kingpins to dominate the European cocaine market. 

Amidst a backdrop of first-class flights and fortified mansions, he earns the nickname “Santa” for his flash displays of wealth, even as murder and violence underpin his reign.

The Science of Fear: The Bloody Reign of Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was originally released as a subscriber-only series in January 2026 on crimeworld.com.

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In the quiet Staffordshire town of Tamworth, Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh established a deceptive front as a car dealer and built a sophisticated, international logistics hub for the Kinahan organisation.

Utilising “Trojan horse” concealments in industrial machinery to smuggle millions in narcotics, he maintained absolute control through a cold “science of fear” that terrorised subordinates and ensured his status as a global underworld tycoon.

The Science of Fear: The Bloody Reign of Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was originally released as a subscriber-only series in January 2026 on crimeworld.com.

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Rising through the ranks of a drug-fuelled Dublin in the 1990s, Kavanagh weaponised fear and forged a deadly alliance with the notorious Byrne crime dynasty to dominate the city’s exploding cocaine market.

As he became the historic first target of the Criminal Assets Bureau, a campaign of savage witness intimidation and extreme violence eventually forced Bomber to flee Ireland and expand his operations across the Irish sea. 

The Science of Fear: The Bloody Reign of Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was originally released as a subscriber-only series in January 2026 on crimeworld.com.

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Behind the mask of a suburban dad in the English Midlands, Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh reigned as the brutal “European CEO” of the billion-euro Kinahan cartel, orchestrating international drug shipments from his fortified mansion. 

Our new series chronicles his bloody rise and dramatic downfall, beginning in the Ipswich courtroom where authorities dismantled his empire, stripping away the luxury assets and exposing the torture tactics that once made him untouchable.

The Science of Fear: The Bloody Reign of Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was originally released as a subscriber-only series in January 2026 on crimeworld.com.

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The rise and fall of the Kinahan Cartel boss Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh is an extraordinary tale of violence, power, and ambition.

This week, Crime World is posting a special nine-part podcast series The Science of Fear: Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh and his Brutal Reign as Daniel Kinahan’s Right-Hand Man.

Today, as we launch our week-long special, Nicola talks to Niall Donald about what is next for Bomber.

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As war rages on the streets of Dublin, Kinahan re-invents himself as an international aviation broker in Dubai.

He uses the legitimate business world to try and take over Africa’s lucrative cocaine corridors - flying shipments of drugs through the continent on private planes.

But his attempts to disguise his past hit a major snag when the US government puts a $5 million bounty on his head.

Christy Kinahan: The Dapper Don was originally released as a subscriber-only series in November 2025 on crimeworld.com.

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With his father Christy Snr locked up in Belgium for money laundering, Daniel takes control of the cartel’s drug dealing operation.

After he is released, Christy is determined to stay out of jail and moves to the new gangster’s paradise in Dubai.

The outbreak of the Hutch-Kinahan feud would see him play a key role in the cartel’s propaganda operation for the comfort of the Gulf State.

Christy Kinahan: The Dapper Don was originally released as a subscriber-only series in November 2025 on crimeworld.com.

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When elite Spanish cops bust through the doors of Christy Kinahan’s villa in 2010, his days as one of the Europe’s richest drug lords look numbered.

Operation Shovel was set up to dismantle the Kinahan Cartel, who had spread their tentacles across Europe.

But despite the publicity, the continent-wide policing operation failed to stop the Dapper Don’s slick cocaine trafficking mob.

Christy Kinahan: The Dapper Don was originally released as a subscriber-only series in November 2025 on crimeworld.com.

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As the Kinahan Cartel expands in power and reach, Christy Snr comes to garda attention when he splashes the cash in Ireland for his son’s wedding.

With increased police attention focused on the Kinahan gang in the Netherlands, the Irish mob relocate to the Costa Del Sol where they openly live the high life in Marbella.

Christy Kinahan: The Dapper Don was originally released as a subscriber-only series in November 2025 on crimeworld.com.

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With the explosion of ecstasy and rave culture in the 90s, Kinahan and Cunningham relocated their trafficking operation to Amsterdam.

However, their multi-million euro smuggling operation attracted the attention of Dutch police, who launched a major surveillance operation.

Christy Snr now starts to rely on a crew of young and volatile criminals recruited by his son Daniel.

Christy Kinahan: The Dapper Don was originally released as a subscriber-only series in November 2025 on crimeworld.com.

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Raised in a middle-class family home in Cabra, as a young man Christy Kinahan showed little signs that he would become one of the world's most infamous crime bosses.

But when the heroin epidemic struck Dublin, Kinahan was one of a new breed of criminal who saw an opportunity to get rich. 

While serving Portlaoise Prison, he struck up a friendship with veteran armed robber John Cunningham and plotted the birth of a cartel.

Christy Kinahan: The Dapper Don was originally released as a subscriber-only series in November 2025 on crimeworld.com.

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He's called the Dapper Don and has lived up to his name as an international panama hat wearing sophisticat of the underworld.

This week in a special six-part series, Crime World traces the life and crimes of Chris Kinahan - the founder and head of the Kinahan Cartel.

Nicola talks with Niall Donald about the series and about what could be next for the Dapper Don.

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A target for the Criminal Assets Bureau who has been on the run in the UK has been jailed for a burglarly spree in London. Gary Ward is alleged by CAB to be a leading member of a Galway city-based drug dealing gang that exploits addicts to transport drugs.

Niall Donald talks to Eamon Dillon about how the law has finally caught up with Ward.

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A gangster-turned-rapper has vowed to release a new track - just days after being convicted of running a 'drugs supermarket.' Dean Thornton was sentenced last week after he was caught running a drug dealing cell for one of Drogheda feuding crime gangs.

Niall talks to Eimear Rabbitt how Thornton's legal problems are providing lyrical content for his music.

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A new video has emerged of the moment OnlyFans model Madison Allen was slashed in the face in Spain leaving her with shocking facial injuries.

Madison Allen - who is married to the John George murder suspect Johnny Smyth - can be seen being cuddling with a man just moments before she is slashed with a blade.

Niall speaks to Crime World's Steven Moore about Madison's initial claim that she was attacked by a stranger and her brushes with the law in Spain.

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A government committee has controversially called for the full decriminalisation of drugs possession for personal use in Ireland. But within hours of the committee making the recommendation, it was met with fierce opposition from the Tánaiste and the gardai.

Niall speaks to Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice in Maynooth University Dr Cian Ó Concubhair about the report and his own experience of getting caught with drugs.

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Cash seized from a childhood pal of cartel boss Daniel Kinahan is finally to be handed over to the State - ten years after after gardai impounded it during a raid. The money was found in Jeremy Skerritt's home at the height of Kinahan-Hutch feud and led to the discovery of infamous Dutch criminal in a safehouse in Dublin.

Niall talks to Eamon Dillon about how he first spotted Kinahan and Skerritt together outside court in 2001.

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The Corkwoman who groped a teenager in a Malaguf sauna, Conor McGregor's controversial Jimmy Fallon chat, Ireland's most dangerous prisoner and how Steven Lyons' extradition could affect the Kinahans.

Niall speaks to Eimear Rabbitt about the stories that caught our readers' eyes this week.  

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The self-confessed ‘beast of all sex beasts’ who threatened to kidnap, rape, torture, and murder young women and girls has walked free from prison.

Liam Finlay sent long letters to garda stations, a secondary school, and a third level college detailing his grotesque plan.

However, he was caught by gardai using handwriting investigation tools and by tracing the stamps he used on the letters.

Nicola speaks with Eamon Dillon about Finlay and his risk of reoffending.

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Serial fraudster Samantha Cookes constructed an extraordinary web of deception that stretched across Ireland and the UK. A master manipulator, she adopted multiple identities and personas, to gain the trust of families, universities and even state agencies.

Over the years, Cookes falsely claimed to be living with Huntington's disease, posed as a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist, and even a surrogate mother. Her elaborate fabrications left a trail of victims and unanswered questions.

Today, Chloe McPolin is joined by journalist and documentary maker Alan Bradley to discuss his new book, Unmasking Samantha Cookes: The Many Lives of a Serial Fraudster to discuss how the chameleon known as Carrie Jade Williams came to be.

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Convicted criminal Cyril McGuinness, who died in his UK home as police arrived to quiz him in relation to his role in the kidnap and torture of Kevin Lunny, has been named as one of three men involved in the IRA's 1996 bombing of Manchester.

According to the Manchester Evening News, police suspected McGuinness, known as 'Dublin Jimmy', of having a hands-on role in the bomb plot.

Nicola talks to Niall Donald about the Irish Republican who would have faced two major court cases had he lived to stand in the dock.

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Crowds gathered to pay their respects this week at the funeral of gangland hitman Lee McDonnell.

Doves and blue balloons were released over the grave as his gold plated coffin was lowered into the ground.

Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the final send off for one of the underworlds most feared enforcers.

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The Collins family are completely blindsided by Martin Earley’s arrest. None of them have ever heard of him. 

Ann O’Grady has since died but never mentioned his name to them or any involvement a local married man might have had with Sandra. 

Earley is charged with Sandra’s murder, and her family must now prepare themselves for his trial. 

When it finally starts in May 2024 they are shocked to finally hear details of her life in Killala that they were clueless about.  

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Jeffrey Donaldson has begun his new life in Maghaberry Prison. Donaldson and his wife, Eleanor, are set to be stripped of their honours. The former MP and DUP leader, Jeffrey Donaldson was found guilty of 18 child sex offences on Monday - including one count of rape.  

The 63-year-old had pleaded not guilty, but the jury of seven men and five considered its verdicts for ten hours over three days, believing his victims. 

His wife Eleanor Donaldson was found to have committed the acts relating to offences of aiding and abetting following a trial of the facts.  

 Allison Morris joined Ciarán Dunbar to talk about what we couldn’t report while the trial was ongoing. 

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Sligo criminal Barry Young has been brought before the courts on a warrant from the PSNI who want him for the murder of Robbie Lawlor.

Young appeared at Dublin’s High Court today while Jonathan Gill, who has been remanded in custody on a similar warrant, is fighting his extradition to the north.

Nicola speaks to Niall Donald.

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Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty of 18 historical sex offences, including one count of rape, 13 of indecent assault and four of gross indecency. The offences were against two women when they were children. 

His wife Eleanor Donaldson has been found to have committed the acts relating to offences of aiding and abetting following a trial of the facts. 

The leaders of the UUP and TUV immediately called for the Donaldsons to be stripped of their titles.  

Jeffrey Donaldson has been taken to Maghaberry prison to start his sentence. 

Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Allison Morris, Sam McBride, and Suzanne Breen.

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Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty of all charges – the judge said prison is “inevitable”. 

A jury of seven men and five women had considered its verdicts for more than nine hours over two days, and reached a verdict just after lunch on Monday.  

The 63-year-old former MP had pleaded not guilty to 18 offences including one count of rape. 

His wife Eleanor Donaldson found guilty of all charges including five of aiding and abetting – she was facing a trial of the facts and cannot be convicted or go to prison.  

Belfast Telegraph reporter Kyle Frazer joins Ciarán Dunbar.  

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On the 13th of April, convicted child rapist Philip Sullivan was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.

The sixty-three-year-old had already served time in prison.

He was handed down two life sentences in 2008 for the rape and sexual assault of two young boys, aged nine and 11, between 2004 and 2006.

The Kildare man appealed the sentence, and it was squashed.

Instead, he got concurrent sentences of 15 years, with the final two and a half years suspended for 10 years on strict conditions, including that Sullivan not be in the company of minors.

He was released in 2017, and last February, after a tip-off, he was found at his home in Rathmines in Dublin in the company of three teenage boys, breaking those bail conditions.

Today, Jenny Friel talks to Ciara Griffin, whose younger brother, Shane Griffin, was one of Sullivan's earlier victims.

Despite the chaos and horrors he experienced during his childhood, Shane became a passionate advocate for kids in the care system.

But after Sullivan's release in 2017, he struggled to cope, and in 2019, he took his own life.

Ciara is determined to carry on some of the work Shane started and is campaigning for changes in how sex offenders are sentenced for their crimes.

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Conor McGregor's drug-dealing childhood pal has been convicted of viciously assaulting a man outside the UFC fighter's pub, The Black Forge Inn.

Andy Murray was by McGregor's side as he travelled the world by private jet and was with him when he fought Floyd Mayweather.

But today, Crime World's Patrick O'Connell tells Niall how Murray is now facing a different type of public glare after being found guilty of assault.

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This week, Bill Kenneally, one of Ireland's worst ever child sexual predators, died at the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise.

The 75-year-old was also a member of Waterford's most powerful political dynasties, a collection of Fianna Fáil TDs, senators, city councillors, and mayors who served for almost 60 years, right up until 2011.

His influential connections didn't stop there. A late uncle, Monsignor John Shine, was a leading member of the Catholic Church in their home county.

As far as we know, Kenneally began his horrific campaign of sexual abuse when he was just 17 years old, and despite victims reporting his vile crimes to the gardai as far back as 1985, it took until 2016 before he was finally jailed.

For more than eight years, a commission of investigation examined how state authorities, the Catholic Church clergy, politicians, sporting organisations, and others dealt with the allegations of sexual abuse made by young boys against Kenneally.

The commission, chaired by Michael White, heard over 5,000 pages of testimony, and last week they released their findings in a devastating report.

It stated how there were missed opportunities and a clear and serious dereliction of duty by gardai, even by the standards of the late '80s.

Last week, before Kenneally died, we spoke to sexual abuse survivor Jason Clancy, who, along with five of his childhood friends and fellow survivors, Kevin Keating, Gerry Mullane, Barry Murphy, Colin Power, and Paul Walsh, went public in their efforts to get to the full truth about Kenneally's heinous crimes and why it took so long to get him stopped.

Please be warned, this podcast contains disturbing and frank details about sexual abuse.

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A 'foolish and stupid' criminal is facing jail after posing for the camera during a horror attack on gangland murder witness Erol ‘Bigworm’ Ibrahim. Darragh Manning filmed the savage attack during which Ibrahim was pistol whipped with an airgun and threatened with a sword by two men in a Limerick apartment.

Niall talks to Eimear Rabbitt about the horror attack and how Ibrahim was previously the chief witness in the trial of a notorious hitman.

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When Anthony Bur­nett and Joseph Red­mond drove up the M1 in a stolen car in March 2012, they assumed they were in for an easy pay day by selling the Volkswagen to Jason O’Driscoll.

But what they didn’t realise was that the prolific hitman had decided to kill them believing they had cheated him out of a drug deal worth just €1,500.

By the time the friends were unwit­tingly driv­ing to their deaths in a remote forest on the border with Newry, O’Driscoll had built up a repu­ta­tion within the under­world as a reli­able gun-for-hire.

So who was he and how did gardai link him to the brutal double murders?

Nicola speaks to Robin Schiller about the life and crimes of O’Driscoll, one of gangland’s most prolific guns-for-hire.

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Jeffrey Donaldson’s trial is nearing its end. The court has now heard the closing arguments – all that remains is for the judge to give directions to the jury.  

 On Wednesday, Donaldson’s barrister told the jury the complainants were “not sufficiently reliable enough to drive you to a sure conclusion that he is guilty”.  

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Kinahan hitman Glen Clarke who took his own life accidentally on the way to kill Cartel target Noel ‘Duck Egg’ Kirwan was the killer nicknamed 'Teeth' during the Sean McGovern hearing.

The court heard that McGovern wanted an associate to give ‘Teeth’ the chance to ‘murder Duck’ after a series of botched hits had left three innocent people dead.

Nicola and Niall Donald recount the shocking details of the life and death of Glen Clarke. 

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Murder accused Jonathan Gill has been refused bail in the High Court and now awaits a decision around his extradition to Northern Ireland where he is wanted for the murder of Robbie Lawlor.

Nicola talks to Niall Donald about Gill and his extradition challenge the Encrochat evidence that the PSNI say they have against him.

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A prosecution barrister has told a jury that the two complainants in the case against Jeffrey Donaldson had ‘No reason to lie’. But Jeffrey Donaldson’s barrister has told the jury to look at evidence ‘dispassionately’, and that “When all is said and done, it is their word against his word”. Rosemary Walsh KC, for the prosecution, told the jury in Newry Crown Court that Jeffrey Donaldson’s wife Eleanor “was aware her husband had a sexual interest in pre-pubescent girls”. The former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson is accused of rape and several counts of gross indecency and of indecent assault. The 63 year old has pleaded not guilty to the 18 alleged offences. Eleanor Donaldson, from Dublinhill Road, Dromore, Co Down, denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged offending. 

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Two rival expat criminals who were due to end up in the same Spanish jail are being separated to prisons more than 10 hours apart for their own security. Gang boss Steven Lyons from Scotland and the man accused of his brother Eddie's murder will not be housed together after authorities moved Liverpudlian Michael Riley to the north of the country.

Nicola talks with Niall Donald about the prison move.

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A Gucci Gang leader who threatened a woman that he would have her son raped if they didn’t pay up an alleged debt has been jailed for 10 years. Mark Salmon rose to prominence in the notorious north Dublin mob after a number of high profile members were shot dead or imprisoned.

Nicola talks with Eamon Dillon about the ordinary working dad who secretly operated as a monstrous criminal thug. 

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Gardaí investigating the disappearance and murders of Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob have begun a new search in Co Wicklow.

It comes several months after gardaí carried out a search of a disused quarry in Co Wicklow in relation to the two women who disappeared in the Leinster area in the 1990s. 

Nicola speaks to Eimear Rabbitt.

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Retired garda detective Eddie Naughton spent the last 16 years of his career working on the Sandra Collins case. He remembers all the details and who was investigated. He recalls how few days after Sandra went missing, a local plasterer called Martin Earley dropped into the garda station to inquire how the search was going. Suspicions are raised about this married man and why he’s so interested in what has happened to a woman he claims to have only met in recent weeks. There is no sign of Sandra, her family cling on to hope that she has simply moved away. But in 2010 her case is finally upgraded to a murder inquiry.  

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Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has now been cross-examined by the prosecution in Newry Crown Court where he is on trial over 18 alleged offences.

He has plead not guilty to charges including rape and allegations of indecent assault and gross indecency.

Both complainants alleged they were abused as children.

His wife, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, from Dublinhill Road in Dromore, denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged offending.

She is facing a trial of the facts on mental health grounds. 

Allison Morris is covering the trial for the Belfast Telegraph.

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A rugby ace behaving badly, the Belfast riots draw sick comments from a US rapper, and glamour model Katie Price says Daniel Kinahan and her hubby are sharing porridge in a Dubai prison.

This is a wrap up of the top stories on crimeworld.com this week.

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The brother of an Irish soccer star has been reported missing and feared dead in Spain. The victim in his 30s had been living in Spain for a number of years and associating with members of the Kinahan organization. Nicola speaks to Niall Donald on this breaking news story.

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Crime World’s Ken Foy goes in search of a statement from Daniel Kinahan about the Panorama programme.

Much to his surprise, he ends up in a 35-minute-long phone conversation with the man himself.

Ken gets his statement, and the reaction to the BBC documentary is fierce, prompting yet another release from Daniel denying any involvement in the drugs trade. It’s just a ‘witch-hunt’ he claims.

But his attempts to ‘sportswash’ his reputation are truly scuppered when in April 2022 when an extraordinary press conference at Dublin City Hall is jointly held by the Irish, American and British law enforcement agencies.

Are the Kinahans finally KO’d?

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Jeffrey Donaldson has denied raping a seven-year-old child, under cross-examination, saying “it simply didn’t happen”. The former MP spent Thursday on the witness stand in Newry Crown Court. During the questioning, he admitted having an affair. Mr Donaldson is accused of rape and several counts of gross indecency and of indecent assault. The sixty-three-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the 18 alleged offences.

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Eleanor Donaldson “met with a blank wall” when asking her husband Jeffrey about an incident with an alleged abuse – a jury has heard.  

Eleanor Donaldson also accused her husband of infidelity during police interviews.  

And Jeffrey Donaldson told police a letter sent to one of his alleged victims had nothing “to do with any allegation or any action involving sexual abuse”.  

His trial over alleged sexual offences is continuing in Newry Crown Court.  

The 63-year-old has pleaded not guilty to 18 charges, including one count of rape and allegations of indecent assault and gross indecency.  

His wife Eleanor Donaldson faces five related charges including aiding and abetting – she is facing a trial of the facts due to her mental health issues.  

Allison Morris is covering the trial. 

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MTK Global gets a major boost when US boxing promoter legend Bob Yalen is announced as their new president.

Nothing is going to stop Daniel Kinahan’s attempt to break America. A bizarre book, rap song and film about the Regency Hotel attack are released that paint the event in a very different light.

For a while it seems to work, MTK sign tournament contracts with Sky Sports and ESPN.

However, Daniel’s connection to the company proves troublesome again.

And then begin whispers about a new BBC documentary in the works, charting Daniel’s ongoing rise in the boxing world and his links to criminality.

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Northern Ireland has seen serious race riots for the third year in a row. Masked men staged violent protests in number of areas, but the trouble was concentrated in the greater Belfast area, with homes set alight off the Crumlin Road and in east Belfast. A Glider bus was set alight on the Newtownards Road and a police car was burned in Portadown. 

The disorder followed an attempted murder involving a knife in north Belfast on Monday night – a 30-year-old Sudanese man has been charged.  

The Belfast Telegraph’s Kevin Scott was on the ground in Belfast and Liam Tunney was in court. 

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Daniel Kinahan is determined to dominate the boxing world – not even an attempt by a rival gang to assassinate him at The Regency Hotel in Dublin can slow him down. He continues to woo top level boxers onto his books. However, things get too hot on the Costa for the Kinahan brothers, they move to Dubai and eventually intense attention from policing authorities sees Daniel step down as the public face of MGM. But he’s still expanding the business with major signings like Carl Frampton. In the meantime, his cartel business is facing major disruption, by the end of 2018 more than 70 Irish Kinahan associates are convicted or awaiting trial. Daniel doubles down on his propaganda war to sportswash his reputation.

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Notorious hitman and enforcer Lee McDonnell died in a Garda cell just a week after his last notorious crime. McDonnell is suspected of being the man who stabbed Thomas Griffen who tried to flee for his life by jumping in the Liffey but was later pronounced dead.

Nicola talks to Niall Donald about McDonnell and his notorious criminal past.

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On 5th December 2000 Ann O’Grady rings the Collins family to tell them Sandra has failed to return home after being out the night before. 

A major search is launched, covering miles of the surrounding countryside.

Lifeboats comb the nearby waters, but there’s no sign of Sandra, apart from her dark pink coloured fleece jacket, which mysteriously turns up on the pier five days after she goes missing. 

There are two scraps of paper in the pockets, one has the phone number for an abortion clinic in the UK, the other has a mobile number for a local man. 

But the Collins family aren’t told who he is or what his connection to Sandra is about. 

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It’s late January 2021 and Crime World reporter Ken Foy is waiting by his phone for a call from one of Ireland’s most notorious mob bosses. It takes several hours for the call to come through and when it does Foy can’t quite believe that he is talking directly to Daniel Kinahan - head of an international drugs cartel. But Kinahan is not calling to discuss his main business, instead he wants to talk boxing and an upcoming BBC documentary that’s promising to highlight his criminal links. He wants some positive publicity - it’s a propaganda push. 

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“I can’t get my head around” the abuse allegations made by Witness B, Jeffrey Donaldson told police.

The tape of the former MP’s interview with the PSNI was played at his trial in Newry Crown Count on Monday morning.

The jury also heard Donaldson deny that he apologised to Witness in the case because he thought it would “make this go away”.

“I wasn’t doing anything untoward,” Jeffrey Donaldson told police officers in relation to accusations made by Witness A.

Donaldson (63) is accused of rape and several counts of gross indecency and of indecent assault. He denies all 18 alleged offences. There are two alleged victims, Complainant A and Complainant B.

His wife Eleanor Donaldson, from Dublinhill Road in Dromore denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged offending.

Allison Morris was in court.

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Sean McGovern, right-hand man of Daniel Kinahan, was handed down a massive 24-year sentence yesterday for his role in a murder and a surveillance plot against a Hutch associate during the Kinahan and Hutch feud.

Noel ‘Duck Egg’ Kirwan was an innocent man who stood beside the Monk as he attended his brother Eddie’s funeral after his murder in February 2016.

That, gardaí have said, was enough to have him assassinated days before Christmas that year as Kinahan killers stalked their prey.

Nicola and Niall speak to Eamon Dillon.

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The murder of Pat Finucane is one of the most notorious of the Troubles.

The 39-year-old Belfast solicitor was shot dead at his family home in north Belfast in 1989 by UDA gunmen.

A series of investigations revealed collusion with the state. The first hearing of a public inquiry into the killing is set to take place soon – with Sir Gary Hickinbottom as chairman of the inquiry.

Pat Finucane’s family, including his son, Sinn Fein MP John Finucane, has long fought for an inquiry into the case to be opened.  

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Jonathan Gill's latest court appearance, a family divided in two by a son's brutal killing of his allegedly abusive mother, wife killer Joe O'Reilly graduates from a university course in jail, and a prison watchdog boss has custom-made pillows designed of a killer's face.

Eimear Rabbitt is joined by Neil Fetherston as we discuss the biggest stories on Crime World this week.

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Newry Crown Court has heard Jeffrey Donaldson sent a message to a minister supporting one of his alleged victims, saying he wanted to “repent before them as he had before God.” 

The husband of an alleged victim in the abuse trial has broken down as he gave evidence on Thursday.  

63-year-old former MP Jeffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to all the 18 charges he is facing, they include rape and several counts of gross indecency and of indecent assault. His wife Eleanor Donaldson, from Dublinhill Road in Dromore, County Down denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged offending.  She is facing a trial of the facts.  

Allison Morris is covering the trial for the Belfast Telegraph.

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Siblings Bridie and Patrick Collins have spent 26 years trying to find their missing sister Sandra who vanished on a December night in 2000 from the small fishing village of Killala in County Mayo.

Over the past year, the Crime World team has been delving into the story of Sandra in the hopes of unearthing information that might lead gardai to her remains.

Nicola talks with Bridie and Patrick about Ghost: The Disappearance of Sandra Collins and their ongoing efforts to find her.

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Troubles with wedding dress shopping in an electronic tag, sports stars finding themselves on the wrong side of the law, and the week’s most bizarre story.

This is a Crime World weekly round up from crimeworld.com.

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The heartbroken family of murdered computer science student Qayyum Balogun believe he was chased down and murdered for trying to protect a girl from an assault during a music event.

The 21-year-old was stabbed to death in the early hours of Monday morning just off Grafton Street in Dublin. 

Nicola talks to Eimear Rabbitt about what happened to Qayyum and who the Gardai suspect in his murder.

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Stephen McCullagh will do at least 31 years of jail time before he is even considered for release. 

32-year-old Natalie McNally had been 15 weeks pregnant when she was subjected to a violent attack and murdered at her home in Lurgan in December 2022. 

The judge, Mr Justice Kinney, told McCullagh that he committed a “brutal senseless murder and planned it in remorseless detail.” 

“The killing was cold blooded and calculated.” 

McCullagh tried to pin the murder on Lewis Jones, Natalie’s ex-partner, after having set up a false alibi. But the jury rejected that and found McCullagh guilty of the murder at Belfast Crown Court earlier this year. 

Our Bel Tel colleagues Ciaran Dunbar and Kurtis Reid discuss what happened in court for the tariff hearing.  

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A new movie about the events of Bloody Sunday and the fight for justice in its aftermath is touring across the UK with huge interest from the United States and even Dubai.

Made with images and footage taken on the day, interviews with those who were there in January 1972 when British army paratroopers fired on unarmed civilians, and contributions from those who have fought for justice, The Day Innocence Died has likened events in Derry with those in Palestine.

Nicola speaks with Adrian Kerr of the Bloody Sunday Trust and filmmaker Hannan Majid on their collaboration which has created the box office hit.

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A jury has heard a police interview recording of a woman who claims she was raped as a child by Jeffrey Donaldson. Jurors at Newry Crown Court heard allegations against the former DUP leader by a woman who claims it happened when she was at primary school. She also alleged that Donaldson arranged for her to be sent to a Christian Rehabilitation Centre and apologised to her there.

Sixty-three-year-old Jeffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences said to have taken place between 1985 and 2008 involving two complainants known as Witness A and B.

His wife Eleanor Donaldson faces a trial of the facts on aiding and abetting allegations after the trial judge ruled her medically unfit to stand trial.

Allison Morris is covering the trial for the Belfast Telegraph.

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Eleanor Donaldson “did nothing” when told of an allegation of abuse by her husband, Jeffrey Donaldson, a court has heard. 

The claim from one of the alleged victims came during week two of the former DUP leader’s trial. 63-year-old Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences. 

The charges include one count of rape and allegations of indecent assault and gross indecency. Donaldson’s wife Lady Eleanor Donaldson, from Dublinhill Road, Dromore, Co Down, denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged offending. 

The 60-year-old is facing a trial of the facts, not a criminal trial, after judge Paul Ramsey ruled her unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds. Allison Morris was in court for day four of evidence.  

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Frank McCann murdered his wife, Esther, and her daughter, Jessica, on the 4th of September 1992.

The moment Marian Leonard heard the news that her sister and niece had perished in a house fire, she suspected that McCann had somehow been involved.

McCann received two life sentences in 1996.

In recent weeks, Marian has once again had to meet with the parole board to ask them not to release McCann.

Jenny Friel speaks to Marian Leonard to ask her why it's so important to her that McCann stays behind bars.

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Sandra visits home every Sunday evening to see her family, however, they know little about her day-to-day existence in Killala. 

They are shocked when she reveals her pregnancy in the late 90s but are also completely supportive.Sandra makes the difficult decision to give her baby daughter up for adoption. 

The Collins family are deeply saddened by the move but understand it. A short time later, they experience a huge tragedy when their brother James is killed in a horrific workplace accident. 

It takes a toll on all of them, and Sandra must deal with her grief without them close by. 

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It’s coming on two decades since a garda crackdown on Limerick promised to break the gangs that had turned the city into a warzone.

So, where are the players now and why are so many still involved in drug dealing and organised criminality?

Nicola speaks with Eamon Dillon.

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This episode was originally published by our sister podcast, The BelTel on May 29, 2026.

Jeffrey Donaldson’s wife planted a listening device in his car after becoming suspicious he was having affair with a constituent, a court in Newry has been told.  The 63-year-old former MP in on trial in relation to 18 alleged historical sex offence charges, dating from 1985 to 2008 – including a charge of rape. He denies all of the charges against him.  

His wife Eleanor Donaldson, of Dublinhill Road, Dromore in Co Down, is charged with aiding and abetting. She denies the charges.  She will not be in court and is facing a trial of the facts as she has been ruled medically unfit to stand trial.  

Allison Morris was in court.

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Blood bonds between organised crime groups have a long history in the underworld and in the efforts by law enforcement to get to the root of what holds outfits together.

Now a familial bond between the Gucci Gang and the Kinahan Organisation have featured in Criminal Assets Bureau affidavits which give an insight into a troubled period of restructure in both groups in the aftermath of a garda crackdown.

Nicola speaks to Eamon Dillon.

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A Garda Inspector Tom Quinn has told of the effects of a dog attack on his career, reputation and promotional ability in an extraordinary court case involving criminal Edward 'Blondie' Stokes and an altered video about an incident at his property.

In a case that took eight years to come to court, Stokes pleaded guilty to a range of charges after evidence proved he set his dog on the Garda.

Nicola speaks with Crime World's Eamon Dillon about Stokes.

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Tattle Life is a self-described “commentary website”. Supporters of the site say it’s free speech, protects consumers, and that influencers are fair game, with the website saying it has a zero-tolerance policy to any abusive, hateful or harmful content. But critics claim users have published private documents, that the site facilitates vile and cruel trolling – even stalking.  

Last year, it was revealed County Antrim couple Neil and Donna Sands seemed to have taken the so-called ‘king of the trolls’, alleged owner of the site, Sebastian Bond, down. But now court has ruled he didn’t even know his crown was being seized - and the couple have to pay back £300,000 in damages.   

The Bel Tel's Olivia Peden is joined by Belfast Telegraph reporter Kurtis Reid. 

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The life and death of Katie Simpson was steeped in horses - it is the equestrian industry that has come in for much criticism in the shocking review of her death conducted by Northern Ireland's Justice Department. The review paints a bleak picture of what her world was like from the moment she first met Jonathan Creswell.

Nicola talks to Jenny Friel about the failings of the equestrian industry to safeguard kids and to demand vetting of those working within it.  

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The wife of crystal meth smuggler Nathan McDonnell is alleged to have been six times over the legal limit when she was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of cocaine last August.

Jackie O’Duffy McDonnell is set to appear in court early next month charged with driving while under the influence of cocaine.

Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about Jackie O'Duffy McDonnell and the charge against her.

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In Dungannon, a young woman suffering repeated miscarriages was targeted with cruel congratulations cards sent after every loss from an anonymous person.

But in February 2024 this harassment escalated, a parcel arrived at her workplace and inside the box was a baby doll with its eyes cut out, packaged to look like a coffin.

At the centre of it all is Patricia Quinn - a woman whose campaign of psychological torment spanned years.

Chloë McPolin speaks with Crime World journalist Roisin Gorman to discuss this bizarre harassment case and how Quinn’s sick campaign of torment came undone.

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Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch put up a decent performance in his latest election outing but has failed to make it to the Dáil. However, he has already vowed to try again. What is it that is driving the man known as the Godfather of the Hutch family and even a criminal outfit connected to it.

Why does he really want to be a politician and will he focus next on a bid for Council instead?

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An arrest has been made in relation to the murder inquiry into missing boy Kyran Durnin who was last seen in the summer of 2022.

The 50 year old woman is the third suspect to be arrested in the shocking case of the little boy who would have celebrated his 10th birthday earlier this month.

A new search was underway at a domestic property in Drogheda.

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Hailed as one of the oldest settlements in Ireland, Killala has a long and chequered history. St Patrick is rumoured to have brought a dead woman back to life in the centre of the village, while a French general landed there with more than 1,000 troops to kick off the 1798 Rebellion against English rule. 

In the late 80s, Ann O’Grady gets a small council flat on Courthouse Street in the village and brings her niece Sandra Collins to live with her. Shy and quiet, the locals know little about the teenager, apart from that she’s very young to be taking care of a disabled aunt. 

Her siblings try to persuade her to come home to them, but for some reason, Sandra insists on staying in Killala.

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The widow of Jason Hennessy Sr has appealed a High Court order directing the destruction of her XL Bully pitbulls.

Veronica Maher has claimed the dogs are all she has left after her husband was murdered in Browne's Steakhouse on Christmas Eve 2023.

Niall speaks to Crime World's Eimear Rabbitt about why the State believe the dogs are too dangerous

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Jonathan Creswell was associating with other dangerous sex offenders before his death and had befriended a dangerous young paedophile in the years between the brutal attack on Abi Lyle and the murder of Katie Simpson.

Nicola speaks with Jenny Friel about the sinister friendships that Creswell had nurtured.

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The alleged Dublin crime figure Jonathan Gill who is wanted for the murder of Robbie Lawlor in Belfast in April 2020 discussed ‘stabbing a barrister’ on an Encrochat phone handle the PSNI say was his.

The High Court heard further details of the case against him when he applied for bail today. His mother Catherine and father John Snr gave evidence in relation to surety and bail conditions.

The application was adjourned due to issues with a CAB bill and tax payments and will be decided upon in two weeks. Meanwhile, his challenge to extradition is expected to be heard.

Nicola talks with Robin Schiller who was in court today for the hearing.  

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Glamour model Katie Price is back in the headlines after her intriguing latest marriage with a businessman Lee Andrews and his stint in a Dubai prison.

Andrews, who spent weeks in the same Al Awir prison where Daniel kinahan is currently being held, has gone to ground after missing an interview with his celebrity wife.

Nicola speaks to journalist Aoife Rooney for the latest on the Katie Price saga.

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Crime has become a central focal point of the upcoming by-election where Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch is vying for former Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe's seat.

So what other colourful characters are in the mix? What role does crime pay in their back story?

Nicola talks to Niall Donald about the upcoming by-election.

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Despite early tragedy and straitened circumstances, the Collins family enjoy a loving and stable childhood in the townland of Fotish, near Crossmolina. They may have little in the way of material wealth, but the six children are doted on by their parents, and two aunts, Bridie and Ann. However, when Ann develops a painful degenerative condition, and her marriage breaks up, one of the Collins children is expected to go stay with her. In the end it’s Sandra who moves in. It’s supposed to be for just a few weeks, but turns into months, and then years.  

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While clearing out their aunt and uncle’s house in Liverpool, the Collins family find a tape recording of their eldest sister, Sandra, reading out a poem she learned in school. It has been more than two decades since they last heard her voice. The 28-year-old disappeared on a bitterly cold winter’s night in 2000 from Killala, a fishing village on Mayo’s north coast. 

For years her family hold out hope that she has simply run away from her domineering aunt and would one day return to them. But as time goes on it becomes clear that something much more sinister has happened to Sandra, and there is much about her life in Killala they have never known.  

Subscribe on crimeworld.com to hear the full series now.

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More than 20 gardaí are now working on an investigation into the death of a man in his mid-thirties who became unresponsive after being restrained on the ground for a number of minutes on Henry Street in Dublin City Center last week.

Disturbing video footage has emerged of the incident and it shows alleged shoplifter Yves Sakila becoming unresponsive as he's restrained on the ground on Friday evening. Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the death of Mr Sakila.

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The disappearance of Sandra Collins remains one of the most frustrating murder cases on the books of An Garda Síochána.

Aged 28, she was pregnant and planning an abortion when she disappeared on a bitterly cold December night in 2000 from the fishing village of Killala in County Mayo.

Ten years later, her case was upgraded to a murder inquiry and a subsequent trial heard she had been having a relationship with a local married man Martin Earley.

A jury at his trial were ordered to acquit him after five weeks of evidence yet the hunt goes on for the remains of a beloved sister, daughter, and friend.

Nicola speaks with Jenny Friel about our new nine-part subscriber only podcast special Ghost: The Disappearance of Sandra Collins, available now on crimeworld.com.

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