Crime World (Sunday World)

The murder of Robbie O’Connor behind the walls of Mountjoy Jail has been a shocking and rare killing of an inmate in the Irish Prison System.Lured to a cell by his attackers and fatally injured in a matter of seconds, his brutal death is a reminder of the highly dangerous and volatile atmosphere that exists at all times in our jails.Nicola Tallant talks to Irish Independent Crime Correspondent Ken Foy about the motives behind the murder and about the systems in place to make sure such killings are the rarest of occurrences.We discuss the perfect crime scene that was left behind for investigators and why science and not motive will prevail in solving the killing.

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THE weigh in is due to take place today for the big fight between homecoming hero Katie Taylor and her boxing rival Chantelle Cameron.The ticket only event is expected to be heavily secured and policed as will the fight night tomorrow as a direct response to the gangland events of February 2016 at the Regency Hotel during the Clash of the Clans weigh in.Nicola speaks to Niall Donald about the spectre of Daniel Kinahan which still looms over boxing, the fallout for the sport and the hopes that national treasure Katie Taylor will claim victory and lay a fresh path of integrity for the future of her sport.

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Nicola is joined by Sean Boyne, the very former News Editor who named the paper.

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They are the black-suited operatives whose role is to protect the President of the United States - and if Joe Biden’s plans to visit Ireland this summer come to pass they will be crawling around the highways and byways of the country to make safe his passage.But the Secret Service are no strangers to Ireland, and they have had a few bemusing encounters here in the past in scenes which would often be at home in an episode of Father Ted.Now, in her new book The Green and White House, journalist Lynne Kelleher brings together the incredible stories around the seemingly seamless visits of US leaders to their ancestral birthplaces in often rural outposts across Ireland.From the visits of Richard Nixon to Barack Obama, she tells about the hilarious run-ins of the secret service agents with bemused locals from Ballyporeen to Timahoe, the Aran cardigan which was almost central to a controlled explosion and a chatty hotel manager whose wry joke nearly sparked a major security scare.

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IT'S the diamond capital of Europe and the second city of Belgium, but Antwerp is also on par with Rotterdam as the largest entry point for cocaine into the continent.Last year, 110 tonnes of the powder was seized at the city's sprawling port, where authorities are coming under increasing pressure to do more to take on the drug gangs.However, it's not as simple as beefing up police numbers and investing in new detection equipment. Antwerp is a unique city where smuggling and money laundering are deeply imbedded in its history and culture.Nicola Tallant meets with journalist Joris van der Aa, a colleague from Gazet van Antwerpen, who has spent decades on the crime beat in Belgium. The pair discuss diamonds, drugs and dodgy deals, as they travel the city and visit its enormous port.

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A former Garda Superintendent has been jailed for six-and-a-half years after he was caught with more than €250,000 worth of cannabis.But the investigation into John ‘Spud’ Murphy began because of his suspected links to the Hutch Organised crime group and the passing of information to them.Before his arrest in Spain, Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch became aware of a European Arrest Warrant issued for him thanks to an anonymous Twitter site.And now the same social media channels are under investigation because of threats to State Witness Jonathan Dowdall and members of the Garda team working on the Regency probe.So what’s been going on behind the scenes? Nicola Tallant chats with Niall Donald about the jailing of one of Ireland’s most decorated former officers and the social media campaign against Dowdall and his family.

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COLIN Howell and Hazel Stewart’s forbidden love drove them to commit the near-perfect crime.To onlookers they were the epitome of respectability – he the successful dentist with a flourishing practice that afforded him a life of luxury, she the glamourous wife of a retired high ranking police officer, regular church goer, pillar of society.To all intents and purposes they were the most unlikely of killers but they went about their daily lives for 19 years hiding the terrible truth oftheir former lives as illicit lovers, and how that love drove them to the ultimate act – murder.This is the story of how the couple plotted the deaths of their respective partners and how a crisis of conscience finally brought the crime to light.

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It was a story that read like the start of a true crime bestseller – a teenage girl is found wandering on Dublin’s O’Connell Street, a team of experts are brought together to discover who she is and pencil drawings depict a cruel sex trafficking ring.Dubbed 'GPO girl', Samantha Azzopardi sparked a major Garda investigation in 2013 when she posed as a vulnerable young teen who’d lost the power of speech.Instead she was a troubled 25 year old Australian con artist who had a history of posing as a victim of crime.But what happened Azzopardi after her unwelcome brush with fame in Dublin and why is she back before a court in Australia on her 100th charge related to fraud.Today I’m talking with Sunday Independent journalist Ali Bracken about the extraordinary story of GPO girl and how her days posing as a teenager could be numbered thanks to the power of television.

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The trial of Jozef Puska accused of murdering 23-year-old schoolteacher Ashling Murphy in Tullamore last year continued today in front of a jury of 3 women and 9 men. The court heard harrowing details from the post-mortem as well as other evidence from the first Garda on scene. Today I’m talking to Crime World’s Clodagh Meaney about the cause of death, the beginnings of the investigation and what the court can expect to hear next.

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It’s the white gold that has turned street dealers into billionaires and corrupted politicians, police and even the judiciary with its promises of wealth beyond dreams.Cocaine starts out life as a leaf on a tree in the jungles of south and central America but how does it get to the streets of Ireland and how many people die along the way?Today I’m talking with film maker Toby Muse as he traces a kilo of coke from its source in the makeshift laboratories of Colombia to the Pacific Coast where it sets sail to the US and Europe.He tells me of the grinding poverty, the violence and the tragedy that touches so many as the kilo soars in value on its journey to a population of Europe with an insatiable appetite for a sniff.This is crime world a podcast from sundayworld.com

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US sanctions against the Kinahan mob have been extended to a number of key associates linked to the European Super Cartel.But with all still finding shelter and safety in the United Arab Emirates can we trust Dubai to hand back the wanted?Nicola is joined by Niall Donald and Italian journalist, mafia expert and author Floriana Bulfon about the international conglomerate of cocaine billionaires who are proving hard to break.Who is Daniel Kinahan’s secret backer in the Emirates and what do sanctions against the criminals really mean?

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THE conviction of gangland hit-men Robert ‘Roo’ Redmond and his sidekick Bernard Fogarty marks the end of the short and dangerous careers of Dublin’s one-time, most-feared assassins.This week, as the pair settle in to a life sentence behind bars, Nicola Tallant talks with Niall Donald about the chaos and fear spread by the murderous duo.They discuss death threats to innocent families, terrifying selfie videos and the brutal gun murder of dad Barry Wolverson, who survived in a catatonic state for 13 months after he was shot.

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She is the former Irish soldier who, a court heard, enveloped herself in the black flag of IS.Now, Lisa Smith awaits her fate in the Special Criminal Court, which heard the details of her journey into the dark heart of Islamic terrorism.During her trial, she was portrayed as a vulnerable, love-lorn woman who believed she was following her religion and beliefs when she travelled to Syria - but instead found herself in a harsh regime and surrounded with violence which she never expected nor condoned.But the State said different, and FBI officers said it was beyond suspicion that she had joined the group.Today Nicola Tallant talks with courts correspondent Eoin Reynolds about the sensational trial which ended with a guilty verdict and a sobbing mother now counting the cost of the choices she made.

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MEET the man convicted of murdering his 14-year-old ex-girlfriend — who now wants to move to Ireland.Dempsey Lewis, formally known as Dempsey Hawkins, was convicted of murdering Susan Jacobson in New York in 1976, when he was just 16-years-old. During the time in which Susan's body was missing, he participated in searches with her family, leading them away from the area whenever they got close to where her body was hidden. Now in his sixties, Dempsey said he felt relief when police came to arrest him two years after Susan's grisly murder and says the violent memories of that fatal day still haunt him.After spending more than four decades behind bars in the United States, the London-born, New York-raised man was deported to England in 2017 as part of his parole conditions. Now, he says, he would like to continue re-building his life here in Ireland.

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HE was the notorious Cosa Nostra boss who lived in hiding for 30 years and who was responsible for terrorist atrocities against Italy. Matteo Messina Denaro was amongst a group of violent mafia bosses who hit back at Italian magistrates, their families and body guards with lethal bomb attacks during the early 1990s when the brave judges took on the notorious criminal organisation.For decades, he was hunted to no avail, but this month he was dramatically arrested in Palermo as he made his way to a cancer clinic.So who is Denaro and what is the significance of his arrest for the people of Sicily and southern Italy?Nicola Tallant chats with Dr Anna Sergi, a Professor of criminology and organised crime at the University of Essex, the author of a number of books about the mob, including her latest 'Chasing the Mafia'.She describes Denaro's background, his violent life, his incredible capture and the secrets he may take to his grave.

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The man suspected of murdering his girlfriend Kirsty Ward in a Spanish hotel has released a selfie video from his prison denying he had anything to do with her death and claiming the truth will out.But 30 year old Keith Byrne remains under investigation and in custody despite his claims.Nicola is joined by Niall Donald to talk about the unusual video which has spread far and wide on social media, about the tragic victim at the centre of the case and about separate developments in Spain about a bizarre weapons cache linked to the Kinahan mob.

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A car has emerged as a key piece of evidence in the attempted murder of PSNI Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell after football training in Omaha last week - a callous shooting which has shocked all Ireland.The second hand Fiesta purchased in a private sale on February 8th was hidden in Belfast and then used by the gunmen who sprayed bullets at the officer after a training session for teenagers.Nicola Tallant speaks to Belfast Telegraph Crime Correspondent Allison Morris about the recruitment of young men into the New IRA which had been deemed a reduced terror threat in Northern Ireland before the attack.We discuss the group’s motive to kill, its use of propaganda and it’s intent to make policing Northern Ireland a thankless job.

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His name still strikes fear across Ireland - a hunter who stalked his prey in the heart of the area known as the vanishing triangle.But where is Larry Murphy now and why is he a suspect in the murder of teenager Deirdre Jacob and the mystery disappearance of Jo Jo Dullard and Annie McCarrick?Now, in a Crime World mini-series, we present 'Predator: Larrry Murphy and Ireland's missing women', a chilling true crime special.

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74 year old Noel Long went on trial this week accused of the murder of Nora Sheehan in 1981.The then 54 year old was found dead at Shippool Woods in Co Cork six days after she vanished.As the trial gets underway, Nicola is joined by Clodagh Meaney and Niall Donald to discuss the case.

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HE was a terrifying gangland mob boss who ran his empire from a gated compound in County Meath, where he is alleged to have held slaves and forced them to do his bidding.Amongst a litany of terrible crimes, he is suspected of murdering a young man and his pregnant girlfriend, cremating their bodies and then directing a campaign of intimidation on their grieving families.When he made a smug 'selfie' video to celebrate the gruesome killing of gangland hardman Robbie Lawlor, Price almost claimed the credit for the murder.But the tables would turn on the 41-year-old thug, and this week he died in a Welsh hospital after suffering a catastrophic brain illness.Nicola Tallant talks with Niall Donald about the claims that Price became a born-again Christian before he died, about denials from the model Katie Price that they were related and about the hell-raising career of one of Ireland’s most feared killers.

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Carl Frampton has defended his involvement with MTK boxing promotions, the company founded by Daniel Kinahan.The boxer says he has no regrets and enjoyed a life changing pay day after signing up in 2017.But is Frampton being tone deaf when it comes to Kinahan and the dirty funds washed through boxing? Should he recognise that he was inadvertently in bed with the bad guys or is he right to brazen it out as he has?Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the Late Late Show interview, Frampton’s snubs to the ‘gutter press’ and his unpleasant show of bitterness to his former manager Barry McGuigan.

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The Marengo trial is the largest ever held in the Netherlands and at the centre of it sits gang leader, Ridouan Taghi, a business partner and friend of Daniel Kinahan, who's reigned terror on Europe.A street dealer turned millionaire cocaine boss, he's the epitome of the new order of criminal, a frightening breed of gangster who has taken on a state.Today, in the first of a number of dispatches, we're going into the bunker in Amsterdam where Taghi is on trial for multiple gangland murders, and where we are going to meet Crime World regulars, the journalists Jan Meeus and Saskia Belleman for the first time as they work this very dangerous beat.

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A new fly-on-the-wall series following gardai on the beat in one of the country's most troubled neighbourhoods is giving viewers a window into ground zero of the drug crisis. Children groomed by drug gangs, living in stash houses and watching as their parents and grandparents are arrested for open dealing all features on the show, which is an honest-and-brutal portrayal of life in crime black spots forgotten by politicians and by progress. Today, I'm talking with Niall Donald and the Sunday World's Features Editor Daragh Keany on 'The Guards', a gritty new Virgin Media series, which is an eye opener to what it's like policing the lawless.

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Almost a year since the dramatic US sanctions of the Kinahan Organisation and its leadership, Bosnian mob boss Edin Gacanin has now been named alongside the Irish mob as a business partner under the same financial restrictions.Gacinin, who’s the boss of the feared Tito and Dino Cartel, is originally from Sarajevo but lived most of his life in the Netherlands. His outfit formed part of the so-called European Super Cartel, headed up by Daniel Kinahan.So what does it mean and what affect are the sanctions having 12 months on? Will the United Arab Emirates ever hand up Daniel Kinahan, his father Christy Snr and brother Christopher Junior? And why is his right-hand man Sean McGovern still living freely in Dubai despite a warrant issued here for him on murder charges?Nicola Tallant chats with Niall Donald about the international effort to dismantle a trans-global cartel and the progress being made across the world against Ireland’s most-prolific organised crime group.

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Kinahan Cartel kingpin Liam Byrne has been arrested on the holiday island of Majorca after slipping home from Dubai to meet his family.The 42 year old is wanted in the UK on serious firearms and organised crime offences and will face extradition to the courts there.The arrest comes after his lengthy career at the very top of the criminal ladder and marks the final blow to the once powerful Dublin branch of the Kinahan Cartel.Nicola speaks to Niall Donald about the breaking news story about Liam Byrne's arrest and about his long history in violent crime.

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THIS is the story of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, from his early days as a young hoodlum through to his astonishing acquittal in the Special Criminal Court for the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel.How did this quiet-spoken man from Dublin's north inner-city become one of the most notorious figures in Irish criminal history?And how did he end up on trial for murder and why did he walk free?This is part two of a four-part story about blood bonds, bitter feuds and shocking betrayal. It's a story about the changing face of Dublin, and the pursuit of justice - in the courts and on the streets.

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A homecoming of epic proportions will be on the cards for the leaders of the Kinahan organised crime group as the Irish director of public prosecutions considers which charges to level against Christy Kinahan Snr and his sons Daniel, and Christopher Jnr.After years of speculation as to which country they will face trial in Garda Commissioner Drew Harris confirmed this week that Ireland is hoping to have the trio home before the Special Criminal Court.Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the implications of any decision by the DPP, about the under pressure Garda Commissioners rush to break the news to the political classes and about the unprecedented plans that will have to be put in place around a forthcoming trial.

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A caravan park millionaire Maurice Sines has made news in the high profile financial bible Bloomberg after setting in place a train of events that has threatened the liquidity of a multi billion euro company.But who is Sines and what are his connections to the Kinahan Cartel?Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the self professed Romany Gypsy and his very close friendship with some of Ireland’s most notorious criminals.

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For the second episode of our Crime World special marking the 50th birthday of the Sunday World, Nicola is joined by Fr Brian D'arcy. The Catholic priest has been a columnist with the newspaper for almost half a century.

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A third assassination attempt on the life of convicted drug dealer Gary ‘The Canary’ Carey along with rising tensions in a volatile Dublin feud are stretching the resources of An Garda Siochana.With 24-hour armed support around the young gangs in the Finglas area and investigations suggesting the involvement of three dangerous mobs from the southside of the city in the Carey hit, gangland tensions are rising and with them the pressure on our police.Nicola Tallant is joined by Irish Independent Crime Correspondent Ken Foy to discuss the feuds of Dublin. He tells of a recent hit attempt on Finglas mob boss 'Mr Flashy', about the cost of liking a social media post and about the lone wolf with nine lives who has muscled in on the wrong turf.

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***Episode first published in February 2022***It’s the white gold that has turned street dealers into billionaires and corrupted politicians, police and even the judiciary with its promises of wealth beyond dreams.Cocaine starts out life as a leaf on a tree in the jungles of south and central America but how does it get to the streets of Ireland and how many people die along the way?Nicola speaks with film maker Toby Muse as he traces a kilo of coke from its source in the makeshift laboratories of Colombia to the Pacific Coast where it sets sail to the US and Europe.He tells me of the grinding poverty, the violence and the tragedy that touches so many as the kilo soars in value on its journey to a population of Europe with an insatiable appetite for a sniff.

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The trial of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch for the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel has been put back for a few weeks after dramatic developments in the Special Criminal Court.Hutch stepped into the dock hours after the court heard his neighbour and lifelong family friend Jonathan Dowdall had turned State witness against him.During his sentence hearing for the lesser charge of facilitating the Regency attack, evidence was heard how Dowdall is entering the Witness Protection Programme and has given a lengthy statement to gardai.Nicola Tallant chats with Sunday World deputy, Niall Donald, and Crime World producer, Ian Maleney, about an extraordinary day in Dublin's Special Criminal Court.

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A survivor of the Cold War and of the notorious Russian Gulags, Imre Arakas was an international hitman who washed up on our shores like a character dreamed up in a work of fiction.His paymaster for this trip was Daniel Kinahan, the son of Christy Kinahan Snr and director general of the Irish mafia on the Costa Del Sol where Arakas lived.He’d worked for them before and he’d always been paid swiftly and efficiently on completion of a jobHe’d flown into Dublin with a tent, a little camping stove, fishing rods and binoculars, looking every bit the nature lover who enjoyed holidays in the great outdoors.Despite his celebrity as an international hitman for hire, Arakas was confident that nobody would know him in Ireland and that he could pass off as a tourist.It didn’t quite work out like that though. This is his story.

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Organised crime is now posing as big a threat to countries in the EU as terrorism a commissioner warned this week.And as criminals including Irish Godfather George 'the Penguin' Mitchell are left reeling after another major encrypted phone hack it seems like police are fighting fire with fire as the battle against the mobs heats up.This week on Crime World’s weekend show I’m joined by my colleague Niall Donald and journalist Carl Fellstrom to discuss the cartels' intent on turning Europe into a Wild West.This is crime world a podcast from SundayWorld.com

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THEY'RE the doomsday preppers who were arrested while on honeymoon in Hawaii.Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell were wanted by police as their children Tylee and JJ had not been seen by family or friends in months. As concern among loved ones grew, Lori’s lies about where the 16 and 7 year old were spun out of control. After Lori was recently found guilty of murder. John Glatt, author of The Doomsday Mother speaks to Crime World’s Clodagh Meaney about their complicated family tree, the LDS church and what really happened to Tylee and JJ Vallow.

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The trial of Dutch murder suspect Ridouan Taghi gets underway in the Netherlands again this week as it moves into the final phase and as he asks the court to block all further reporting.Taghi is expected to request the remainder of the case be heard in camera after his lawyer Inez Weski was arrested but released from custody.Nicola joins Niall Donald to talk about the marathon case against the business partner of Daniel Kinahan who was a boss of the European Super Cartel and the chaos created around it.

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Kinahan Cartel boss Ross Browning has turned poet in an effort to explain what lured him to life on the wrong side of the tracks.Browning who has just lost his vast home in north Dublin to the Criminal Assets Bureau after its as deemed the proceeds of crime has penned a number of ditties and used them to accompany a social media blitz to show off his fitness skills.Browning previously attempted to cut ties with the Cartel and embrace a vegan zen lifestyle which sources say relates to his struggles over a mob punishment beating that went wrong.However he also remains a person of interest in a number of investigations relating to hitmen for hire used by the Kinahan organisation and the on going probe into the scale of it’s drugs and weapons arm.Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the Cartel odd bod and his efforts to go from hard man to bard man.

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As Crime World continues to celebrate turning 50, Nicola is joined by former Managing Editor of the newspaper, Neil Leslie.

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Children are being radicalised by drug gangs and being turned into killers in the same way that terrorists have, and now the EU wants to develop an early-warning system for countries to recognise the process.The tsunami of cocaine, which is still coming for the block and which has changed the whole face of organised crime is to blame for the shocking societal changes being recognised by the European think thank.The warnings come at the same time the Maersk shipping company have said its entire industry is under threat from cocaine cartels determined to ship their cargoes across the Atlantic.Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the evolution of organised crime into the biggest threat along with terrorism that we are now facing.

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BRIAN Rattigan has re-emerged as a significant crime figure following his release from Portlaoise Prison last year.The 42-year-old who led one side of the Crumlin-Drimnagh feud while still only a teenager has come of age behind bars, where he served 17 years and ruled the top security prison and is suspected of running a lucrative drug racket throughout his incarceration.Tattooed with the image of his murdered younger brother, Joey, and with deep connections to significant gangs across Ireland, he is now being monitored as a rising player in an unsteady underworld.But what will Rattigan do next? Will he avenge his beloved brother or turn his back on violence for a quieter life? Nicola Tallant chats with Niall Donald about 'King Ratt' and his re-positioning at the gangland table.

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They are the mouth watering sums of money that the Criminal Assets Bureau claim are the proceeds of crime. But their target insists was partly funded by working as an escort in Australia.Mary Cash made headlines when the high court heard details of her lavish lifestyle which included buying a house with cash, making trips to Harrods, and buying a stunning collection of designer handbags.CAB insist her lifestyle is funded by crime proceeds gained for burglaries allegedly carried out around the country, but the Cork woman has denied the bureau's claims and put forward the novel excuse that she earned a portion of the money working as an escort down under.Niall Donald is joined by Eamon Dillon to discuss the case.

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An estimated €188B in dirty money washes around the European economy every year - that’s according to a new EU report on the finances of organised crime.Nicola talks to journalist Eamon Dillon about dirty money and what the criminals are doing with it.

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A three-man assassination squad scouted out Irish crime boss Robbie Lawlor’s movements before carrying out his contract killing, a Belfast court has heard.The three formed a cell intercepted by police following the shooting, but were then released and allowed to leave Northern Ireland, it has emerged.So, what are the claims that were made as bail was refused to accused Adrian Holland, who is charged with the murder of Lawlor in April 2020, and just who are the three-man assassination squad?Today Nicola Tallant talks with Niall Donald about the murder of Lawlor and the intriguing evidence that has come out so far.

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This week, Nicola is joined by John 'Jumbo' Kierans to reminisce about his years with the Sunday World.

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A notorious burglary gang headed up by the son of ‘Fat’ Andy Connors have been nabbed again after they were caught with a car load of burglary tools.John Connors who featured on the UK’s crime watch show was arrested with Thomas Wall who both now face more time in prison after their latest run in with police.But how do Irish burglary gangs like Connors outfit remain in business given their reputation and prolonged targeting by Gardai? Are they simply moving jurisdictions in order to stay one step ahead of the law? How do they target households and how quickly can they get in and out with your jewels?Nicola speaks with Eamon Dillon about burglary gangs, crime statistics and why gangland murder rates have dropped.

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A TV show featuring a lengthy interview with criminal John Gilligan is set to air this week in what is being dubbed the ‘Confessions of a Crime Lord.’But does the Virgin Media show deliver what it says or has it simply given the publicity hungry Gilligan another platform to air his lies?Nicola talks with Niall Donald about the revelations or not of the man who insists he didn’t order the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin.

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THIS is the story of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, from his early days as a young hoodlum through to his astonishing acquittal in the Special Criminal Court for the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel.How did this quiet-spoken man from Dublin's north inner-city become one of the most notorious figures in Irish criminal history?And how did he end up on trial for murder and why did he walk free?This is part four of a four-part story about blood bonds, bitter feuds and shocking betrayal. It's a story about the changing face of Dublin, and the pursuit of justice - in the courts and on the streets.

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In 2010, Spanish police announced that they had dismantled the Irish Mafia by shutting down the Kinahan Organised Crime Group.Headed by Christopher Kinahan Snr and managed by his sons Daniel and Christopher Jnr the so-called ‘Cartel’ was estimated to be worth €100 million when it was hit with the killer blow by cops who had spent two years wire-tapping the gang and keeping them under close surveillance.But the scenario sounds all too familiar now and 12 years on the Kinahans are not only still in business, but ten times bigger than they ever were. So what went wrong?Today I’m joined by journalist and author Stephen Breen whose book, 'The Cartel', details the surveillance and wire-tap probe by the Spanish which failed to take the head from the snake.

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THE trial of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch will resume this week after a lengthy Christmas break - before the three judges at the Special Criminal Court retire to consider their verdict.Today, Nicola Tallant talks with Niall Donald about the key pieces of evidence against 'The Monk' and the state of play of the prosecution and defence.In an extraordinary 12 months for the embattled Kinahan organisation, the pair also discuss the difference a year can make and what 2023 will have in store for the key players in the mob.

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An intrepid Irish American cop joins the dots between Hezbollah, Syrian Dictator Bashar Al Assad’s brutal war, and some of Europe’s biggest drug lords.It sounds the plot from an episode of Homelands but it’s all true and forms the incredible geo political story that plays out on the pages of Chasing Shadows, A True Story of Drugs, War and the secret world of International Crime.Nicola is joined by author Miles Johnson, a journalist with the Financial Crimes. They talk about the intriguing world of money laundering which sees criminals fund war, the eye watering profits of cocaine dealing in Europe, the shady terrorists who’ve cashed in on the journey of the drug from Colombia to the pubs and clubs of every city and country town in Ireland and the reasons why the Kinahan organisation are being offered sanctuary in Dubai.

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Remains found behind a wall under the stairs in missing Tina Satchwell home have been confirmed to be the 45 year old woman.And a man remains in custody but Gardai will have to make a decision by tonight on whether to charge or release him.Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the sensational developments and the body under the stairs.

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The final hour of bugged conversations between Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch and Jonathan Dowdall were played to the Special Criminal Court as the prosecution and defence now embark on their arguments about the admissibility of the evidence.Nicola Tallant talks with Sunday World journalist Eamon Dillon about the chats centred around Sinn Fein and the dissidents, who the pair claim are idolised for their beliefs.They talk about the mindset of The Monk as he discusses the expanse of the Kinahan organisation and the possibility of a peace process overseen by the paramilitaries.

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A €1 million bounty on the head of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch, a down payment given to a terrorist to entice him to carry out the job and a vipers' nest of dissident Republicans identified in the aftermath of The Regency trial.Nicola Tallant is joined by Niall Donald to discuss the fallout from the trial of the century, the Monk’s 'not guilty' verdict and the MI5 spy who may have blown the whistle on his secret meetings in the North.

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When the Criminal Assets Bureau was set up in 1996 after the brutal murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was its first target. A known drug dealer and with a string of convictions, Bomber was then running a lucrative business along with his cousin Gerard ‘Hatchet’ Kavanagh. They were dealing whatever they could get their hands on and making a pretty penny as a result. Hatchet would be shot dead in Marbella in 2014, a hit understood to have been sanctioned by Kavanagh and organised by his then business partner, Daniel Kinahan.But when David Byrne took a bullet meant for Daniel at the Regency Hotel in February 2016 — it changed everything and cemented a blood bond between Kinahan and Kavanagh that would set them in the sights of international law enforcement. Now, in a Crime World special, we reveal the rise and spectacular fall of Bomber's empire and why he became one of Ireland's most-feared mob bosses.

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He's the world heavyweight boxing champ who has just been refused entry to the US as a result of sanctions levelled against the Kinahan Organised Crime Group.So, just what are Tyson Fury's links to mob boss Daniel Kinahan and how far back does the relationship go back?Will the travel ban against Fury and other associates of the Irish mafia chief affect their boxing careers and futures prospects?Nicola Tallant talks with Sunday World Deputy Editor, Niall Donald, about the rise of 'The Gypsy King' and the influence of Kinahan on his career and extraordinary comeback.

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This year marks the 50th birthday of your favourite Sunday World newspaper and what a half century it has been.To celebrate we are looking back over some of the front page stories, scandals with the big name journalists who made it the People’s Paper.So join us to reel in the years over the coming weeks on Crime World and at a special 50th birthday party event to be held on September 27th at the Sugar Club in Dublin. We have 50 tickets to give away for this live Crime World event to mark the big occasion. For information on how to enter go to our Crime World social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.In the first instalment, coming every Monday, Hugh Jordan, a Crime World regular, who has worked at the newspaper for almost three decades, joins Nicola Tallant.

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Ireland’s most secure prison is a melting pot of some of the most dangerous, notorious and difficult inmates where each landing is ruled by a top dog and where official and underworld rules apply.But troublemakers in the real world don’t change behind bars as killer Fat Freddie Thompson has proved in recent weeks with his volatile behaviour and ability to fall out with family and friends.But who else is a prominent figure at Portlaoise Prison and what is their role on the various wings?Nicola's joined by Niall Donald to talk about the Turkish heroin dealer whose risen through the ranks of influential prisoners, of the television seizures that have pitted Thompson against his fellow lags and about the punishment wing.We will also talk with journalist Chris Summers in London about the passport scam that have landed three senior Cartel figures behind bars.

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SERIAL sex offender Maurice Fitzgerald was jailed this week after he pleaded guilty to a shocking attack on a woman who he bound and gagged with duct tape and dragged down a city lane way.The former jockey had taken a train from Cork to Dublin and hunted for a victim in the capital's pubs - carrying a bag containing a change of clothing, condoms and three rolls of the tape which he later used to restrain his victim.Nicola and Niall Donald are joined by journalist and Crime World researcher Clodagh Meaney, who attended Fitzgerald’s sentence hearing where he was jailed for ten years.They discuss Fitzgerald’s terrifying history of crimes against women, his predatory actions in the run-up to his latest attack and about the observations of the normal looking 29-year-old.

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It’s 20 months since Ukraine was first attacked by Russian forces in a ruthless war that has shocked Europe and left millions displaced.A massive death toll, horrific injuries and untold trauma has followed for the people of the towns and cities under attack while a catalogue of war crimes by Russia are being documented.But amidst the chaos a former Irish rugby star has found a way to help with urgent medical supplies and supports by using his business brain to react to the humanitarian disaster.Nicola speaks with Shane Leahy about his One4Humanity organisation which has brought together friends, contacts and big business from Ireland to deliver millions of euro of medical supplies and supports in a country stunned by war.

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Cold case killer Noel Long was jailed last week for the murder of tragic mum Nora Sheehan in Cork 42 years ago.But this week his sister has said she was afraid of him since she was just six.Nicola is joined by Crime World’s Clodagh Meaney to talk about Long and his history of sexual violence against women.

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Jonathan Dowdall watched from the witness box at the Special Criminal Court at videos of his arrest from 2016 on firearms offences, where he told gardai that Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch never told him anything about the Regency Hotel.Dowdall was also played tapes where he says Hutch is 'very private' and not a friend of his and reveals that 'The Monk' wouldn’t be stupid enough to tell him even if he was involvedToday Nicola Tallant and Niall Donald discuss Day 4 of the gruelling cross examination of the former Sinn Fein councillor.

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MEET the man convicted of murdering his 14-year-old ex-girlfriend — who now wants to move to Ireland.Dempsey Lewis, formally known as Dempsey Hawkins, was convicted of murdering Susan Jacobson in New York in 1976, when he was just 16-years-old. During the time in which Susan's body was missing, he participated in searches with her family, leading them away from the area whenever they got close to where her body was hidden. Now in his sixties, Dempsey said he felt relief when police came to arrest him two years after Susan's grisly murder and says the violent memories of that fatal day still haunt him.After spending more than four decades behind bars in the United States, the London-born, New York-raised man was deported to England in 2017 as part of his parole conditions. Now, he says, he would like to continue re-building his life here in Ireland.

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What is it that fascinates us about murder and that makes us want to know how the minds of killers work. Are we trying to protect ourselves in a seemingly dark and dangerous world or do we have a morbid fascination with death.Today I’m talking to Criminologist John Deane O’Keeffe about the psychopaths amongst us and whether nature or nurture forms the primal instincts to kill.

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Gardaí have officially joined the queue in a bid to talk with Italian super cartel member Raffaele Imperiale who spent years in business with mob boss Daniel Kinahan.Officers from the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau have formally linked up with Italy's Anti Mafia Investigation Directorate and hope to be able to use information from supergrass Imperiale in future trials.Nicola speaks with journalist Eamon Dillon about the developments in the case against Kinahan and his cohorts, and about just what it means for Ireland to have a place in the line of law enforcement executives interested in what Imperiale has to say.

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Nicola Tallant is joined by Showbiz Editor Eddie Rowley to discuss his career.

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She made headlines for all the wrong reasons when she was dubbed a ‘Gangsta Granny’ in a pun on the David Walliams children’s book.But Deirdre Brady insists that she was only doing what she told when she laundered cash for the mob and was too afraid to say no.Brady just released from prison after serving three months of a one year sentence for her part in laundering cartel cash says she is just an ordinary person who was made do what she did. But was she happy to turn a blind eye. Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the privileged lifestyle of a wife of a Cartel heavy and the shame of her undoing.

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IRISH gangster John Gilligan managed a smile for the cameras this week after appearing in a Spanish Court on drug charges.The trial of the 70-year-old mobster was put back until next April after his son Darren failed to show up in court, while Gilligan himself had failed to reach agreement on the sentence he will accept from State Prosecutors.Journalist Gerard Couzens was in court to witness the antics of the ageing criminal and his co-accused, which include his girlfriend Sharon Oliver and his long-term associate ‘Fat’ Tony Armstrong.He tells Nicola Tallant how Gilligan choreographed his court outing to look confident and carefree despite facing a possible lengthy jail term.

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The 'Dead Zoo' is the name the famous Dublin ‘wits’ came up with for the Natural History Museum in the capital.The quirky Victorian-era institution is packed with stuffed exotic animals from around the world – a moose, a hippo, a giraffe, a rhinoceros and a lot more. The 'Dead Zoo Gang' is the name the Sunday World gave the Irish criminals who started buying or stealing rhino horns all over the world. From the Rockies in Denver, Colorado, to auction rooms in Sydney, Australia, the gang spent more than a decade supplying the illegal trade in rhino horns. With buyers in China and Vietnam willing to spend €20,000 and more per kilo, the Irish mob found a way to go big-game hunting without using guns. This is the story, written by Eamon Dillon, of the 'Dead Zoo Gang' and one of the world’s most bizarre crime sprees.

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14-year-old Noah Donohoe snuck out of his Belfast home in the early hours of the morning he disappeared and took a secret 35 minute trip before returning without his shoes or headphones a team headed by investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre has found.The stunning new revelations which surround the morning of June 21st, 2020 around his Fitzroy Road home have shocked his family and supporters who seek justice for the teenagers.So what does the late night trip mean and why did the PSNI withhold the details from Noah’s family and the public?Nicola speaks with Donal MacIntyre about his independent investigation and what he has discovered about the strange circumstances around Noah’s tragic death.If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this episode, please reach out for support. You can contact Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland.

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It is a story that reads like the plot from a Hollywood movie and punches right into the heart of one of the most secretive regimes in the world.Hackers from the so-called ‘Lazarus Group’ first shut down Sony Studios when it attempted to screen a movie about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and then went on to attempt a daring theft of $1billion dollars from a Bangladesh Bank.But who are the Lazarus Group and how did they emerge from a secretive nation where only the chosen few are allowed online?Nicola Tallant talks to author and journalist Geoff White about the incredible tale played out in his top podcast 'The Lazarus Heist' and in his new book of the same name.

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RAIDS on the homes of notorious crime brothers, the discovery of a cocaine mixing factory and the seizure of a home and equestrian facility owned by a Cartel odd bod - welcome to Crime World.Today Nicola Tallant is chatting with Niall Donald and Eamon Dillon about the Dundon brothers' comeback, Ross Browning's property portfolio and the far-right celebrity hanging out with a convicted criminal.

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GERRY ‘The Monk’ Hutch will learn his fate on Monday when three judges from the Special Criminal Court return with a verdict after his lengthy murder trial. The stakes couldn’t be higher for the veteran criminal, who faces either freedom or a life sentence behind bars. Nicola Tallant and Niall Donald revisit the evidence given at trial as the big day looms and the judges reveal whether they believe he is guilty or not.

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Killer Wayne Dundon was transferred to Portlaoise Prison last week after a fight with a fellow inmate which turned into a mass brawl resulting in four staff from Mountjoy Jail being hospitalised.But on arrival at the prison he failed a test in the so called ‘Boss Chair’ and is suspected of carrying a mobile phone internally.Dundon is now on the A5 punishment landing of the country’s most secure jail along with hitman for hire Alan Wilson and murderer Graham McEvoy.So how does the prison service handle an inmate like Dundon: volatile, violent and always attempting to pick out the vulnerable?Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about Dundon and the efforts to control him behind bars.

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THE funeral of gangland hard-man Cornelius Price took place in the UK this week, complete with three Lamborghinis to lead the cortège, floral tributes of guns, chainsaws and one curious front page of the Sunday World.Beloved by his family, ‘Nailyboy’ - who is suspected of being involved in at least four murders, kidnaps and the brutal torture of members his own mob - Price was laid to rest in the style of a true mafia boss.So, what was the point of his extravagant funeral and others like it where limousines, outriders and pipers lead mourners and dead gangsters are buried in gold caskets surrounded by memories of their ill-gotten gains?Nicola Tallant chats with Niall Donald and Eamon Dillon about the showy gangster funerals that are fast becoming the norm, about the burial chambers fitted with Wi-Fi and the air-conditioned tombs for the fallen hard-men of the underworld.

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Paul Crosby and Gerard Cruise had to listen to the tragic victim impact statement of Elizabeth Mulready, mum of murdered teen Keane Mulready-Woods, as she told a court this week how inconceivable it was that the sadistic minds of those who killed her child could have lived amongst her community.Details of the murder and dismemberment of the 17-year-old were heard during a sentence hearing for the pair. Both 27-year-old Crosby and 49-year-old Cruise pleaded guilty to facilitating the murder which was carried out by the late Robbie Lawlor.Nicola Tallant chats with Niall Donald about the shocking murder that made global headlines, about the background of the pair in the dock and about a cycle of violence that ended in an unforgivable act of depravity.

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He is locked up in a Colorado jail with some of the world’s most notorious prisoners, but the legacy of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman lives on in a never ending cycle of violence and corruption in Mexico.Since his incarceration his Sinaloa Cartel has continued to flood the US with drugs and terrorise the Mexican people from it’s base in Culiacan.Now with his chief bodyguard and right hand man handed over to the US and his son Ovidio Guzman finally arrested after a gun battle with Mexican military which resulted in the death of 29 people will things improve. Or is Mexico gone beyond being saved from the revelations of political corruption that have dogged each success.Nicola Tallant is joined by author Doug Century, whose book Hunting El Chapo, tells the story of the drug boss known as ‘Shorty’ and his on going influence on his homeland of Mexico.

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CHESHIRE, England 1996, Howard Ainsworth violently bludgeoned his wife to death with a hammer before taking his own life. Three years later in the same town, Donald Ward beat his wife to death with a ceramic hot water bottle before using the shards of glass to take his own life. At least that’s what the police report concluded. In 2020, Cheshire coroner Stephanie Davies re-examined the deaths, and other similar cases, and concluded that they were not murder-suicides, but rather the work of an enigmatic serial killer who would go on to be dubbed 'The Silver Killer'.Today, journalist and author David Collins tells Crime World’s Clodagh Meaney about the inconsistent crime scenes, the report that rocked Cheshire police and the hunt for the serial killer you’ve never heard of.This episode is graphic in nature and discusses suicidal ideation, listener discretion is advised.

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When the Criminal Assets Bureau was set up in 1996 after the brutal murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was its first target. A known drug dealer and with a string of convictions, Bomber was then running a lucrative business along with his cousin Gerard ‘Hatchet’ Kavanagh. They were dealing whatever they could get their hands on and making a pretty penny as a result. Hatchet would be shot dead in Marbella in 2014, a hit understood to have been sanctioned by Kavanagh and organised by his then business partner, Daniel Kinahan.But when David Byrne took a bullet meant for Daniel at the Regency Hotel in February 2016 — it changed everything and cemented a blood bond between Kinahan and Kavanagh that would set them in the sights of international law enforcement. Now, in a Crime World special, we reveal the rise and spectacular fall of Bomber's empire and why he became one of Ireland's most-feared mob bosses.

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New INLA enforcer Gerard Mackin is behind bars cosying up with Kinahan Cartel leaders in Portlaoise Jail as he awaits sentence for money laundering.The brutal enforcer whose career in terror goes all the way back to his early 20s is a violent figure who once crucified a man with a nail gun. But on his days off he loves nothing than posing for family pictures with his long term partner and child.So what is behind the two faces of Mackin and what is he likely to do next?Nicola Tallant chats with journalist Eamon Dillon about the paramilitary hard man who has used the guise of the INLA to work with criminal gangs across the country.

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AN Indian woman and her two children strangled with ligatures in their Dublin home. An abusive husband who ended his own life before he could face trial. And a web of lies that attempted to blacken the name of a loving mother.Nicola Tallant chats with with Sunday Independent journalist Ali Bracken about the story of killer Sameer Syed and his tragic wife Seema Banu, who was murdered along with her children - 11-year-old Asfira Riza, six-year-old Faisan Syed - behind the doors of a seemingly ordinary family home.She tells me of the 38-page document penned by Syed before his death while in prison and the truth about a monster who tried to lay blame from beyond the grave against the woman he terrorised and killed.

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They were the two faces of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger boom, friends who partied hard with pretty models and had champagne by the bucket-load.Jim Mansfield Jnr and Marcus Sweeney mixed with high society and graced the celebrity gossip columns, but both hid dark secrets that have left them fighting for their reputations.As Mansfield Jnr tastes freedom for the first time since he was jailed in Portlaoise Prison for perverting the course of justice, and as Sweeney takes to social media after a damaging CAB case saw him linked to the notorious criminal gang 'The Family', Crime World chats with the journalist who has met both and asked them the hard questions.Nicola Tallant and Niall Donald, along with the Sunday Independent’s Niamh Horan, discuss the highs and lows of Ireland’s one-time elite playboys and their spectacular falls from grace.

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HE was an A-list star of the criminal underworld, a gangster so wily that he travelled the world amassing a £100million fortune and died not from a bullet, but from his love of a sun-kissed tan.Dubbed 'The Pimpernel' for his ability to evade the law, Mickey Green's life as a mobster - which spanned an incredible five decades - personifies the changing face of organised crime.From the Costa del crime to California, from the rolling hills of Colombia to the rugged Irish countryside, he travelled the globe negotiating drug deals, VAT scams and sensational robberies.Nicola Tallant presents part two of a three-part Crime World special on the life and crimes of perma-tanned mobster Mickey Green.

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Witch, devil worshipper and Ireland’s first serial killer are just some of the titles that have been bestowed on Darkey Kelly over the years. Born in the 1700s as Dorcus, she ran a brothel on Fishamble Street in Dublin’s city centre.And while not much is known about her life, the story went that she was burned at the stake for witchcraft after she sacrificed her baby to the devil in 1746.But in 2011, researchers debunked the theory when they discovered that the sex worker was actually publicly executed in 1761 for the murder of shoemaker Patrick Dowling on March 17th the year previously.However, a new theory began to emerge that she was a serial killer after a newspaper report suggested that five bodies were found beneath the floorboards of her former broth In 2022, PHD researcher Shannon Hughes Spence, who has an interest in women, witches and murder, took it upon herself to investigate whether or not Darkey was in fact a serial killer.Crime World's Clodagh Meaney chats with Shannon to discuss the King of Hell, public executions and the truth about the infamous murderer.

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The Encrochat phonehack was described as a game changer for law enforcement in its fight against organised crime - and two years on the criminal cases are still flooding into the courts in the UK and Europe.This week, arrests were made on those described as the creators and facilitators of the network in Spain, Dubai and the Dominican Republic.But what have been the effects of the hack and what big players did police manage to take down over the course of the past 24 months? Did Encrochat do anything to stop the trade in cocaine or is the flood of white powder from South America greater than ever?Nicola Tallant chats with Vice World News Global Drugs Editor Max Daly about the arrest and convictions of some of the major players in organised crime – and about the ability of cocaine supply and demand to evade everything thrown at it.

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THE trial of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch for the murder of Kinahan Cartel lieutenant David Byrne has focused on events that took place in the weeks following the Regency Hotel attack and the subsequent covert Garda operations involving the National Surveillance Unit.Here, Nicola Tallant chats with courts reporter Alison O'Riordan about evidence heard surrounding the movements of Gerry Hutch, Jonathan Dowdall and others on key dates, when the State say they met with IRA man Shane Rowan before he was nabbed with the Regency guns.Alison details the intricacies of the surveillance operations and about the 'lightning bolt' moment when Hutch's counsel, Brendan Grehan SC, indicated to the court that the Northern border would be key to their defence.

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It's almost two years since famous Dutch journalist Peter R. De Vries was shot dead on an Amsterdam street in an assassination believed to have been ordered by Marengo suspect Ridouan Taghi.For decades, the 65-year-old TV star had been a voice for victims and a tireless campaigner against criminals and their crimes. But when his killers came for him on a sunny July evening on one of the busiest streets in Amsterdam, they didn't care about what he had achieved - they were simply carrying out their bloody orders.But how could such an instance of narco-terrorism take place in a modern European city, and why did Peter De Vries feel safe there despite the numerous threats to his life.Nicola Tallant, in her third despatch from the Marengo trial, meets with journalist Jan Meeus, chief reporter at NRC, and visits the scene of the De Vries death. Jan recalls his shock he felt at the news of his mentor's murder, and he remembers the fear it instilled in a media already under threat.

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COLIN Howell and Hazel Stewart’s forbidden love drove them to commit the near-perfect crime.To onlookers they were the epitome of respectability – he the successful dentist with a flourishing practice that afforded him a life of luxury, she the glamourous wife of a retired high ranking police officer, regular church goer, pillar of society.To all intents and purposes they were the most unlikely of killers but they went about their daily lives for 19 years hiding the terrible truth oftheir former lives as illicit lovers, and how that love drove them to the ultimate act – murder.This is the story of how the couple plotted the deaths of their respective partners and how a crisis of conscience finally brought the crime to light.

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THE Special Criminal Court watched two faces of State witness Jonathan Dowdall during his fifth day under cross examination, as tapes of his arrest were played and he was asked to comment on the lies he told gardai back in 2016.The complexity of Dowdall's character played out on the video recordings and in the answers he gave from the witness box, where he has said Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch told him he shot David Byrne.Today, Nicola Tallant chats with Niall Donald after another dramatic week at the Regency Trial.

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King of the Road Thomas Maher was handed down 14 years in prison when he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering offences after messages on his phone led police and Gardai to his supply chain which transported drugs across Europe and cash into the hands of the drug dealers.But the County Offaly trucker was dealt a further blow this week when he was ordered to pay more than €720,000 to the UK exchequer after a Proceeds of Crime Case was heard at Liverpool Crown Court in which a confiscation order was made for his house in Warrington, cars, lorries, jewellery, a number of high value watches, artwork and gold ingots bought in Dubai.Nicola is joined by Niall Donald to talk about the greedy trucker who thought he had it all but who has been left counting the costs of his life of crime.

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When drug dealer James Whelan was gunned down in Finglas, north Dublin, two months ago gardai braced themselves for an explosion of violence and tit-for-tat attacks.In recent weeks, the home of Whelan’s mother, Sonya, has been firebombed amidst 70 violent incidents linked to the feuding gangs, many of which are flagged on social media postings.But is this Finglas feud the future of gangland wars or is it part of the fallout of the collapse of the Kinahan empire where the so-called ‘Flashy’ gang once held a prominent position of power?Nicola Tallant talks to Sunday World deputy Editor Niall Donald about the dirty warfare on the streets of a Dublin suburb and the consequences of it for policing drug mobs.

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CELTIC tiger businessman Marcus Sweeney once appeared to be the man who had everything - successful investment interests, a fast car and Ireland's most-beautiful model on his arm.But this week, his final facade of respectability fell when a Judge described him as “up to his oxters’ in organised crime.From his heyday as a Dublin restaurateur and partner of tragic Katy French to money laundering for heroin gangs like 'The Family', the fall of Sweeney was completed during a damning CAB case this week.Nicola Tallant chats with Sunday World colleagues Niall Donald and Eamon Dillon as they discuss the Bureau cases against Sweeney, mob boss Owen Maguire and others.The panel also catch up on what has been happening as the State completes its case against Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch.

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Cocaine cowboy Patrick Irwin is being hunted after he assaulted a lawyer in a midlands town and stole his Porsche car from outside a bar. The convicted criminal has already served time for assaulting a Garda who he viciously punched during a search of his car while on bail for serious drug offences.Once a powerful gang boss who controlled Ireland’s north west drug turf from his hometown of Sligo, Irwin is now on borrowed time running scared from gardai and his enemies.Today I’m talking with Sunday World Deputy Editor Niall Donald about Irwin and his rise and fall. And we consider the treatment of those who lash out at those working in the criminal justice system and whether their sentencing reflects their crimes.

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Rival gangs in Limerick’s lethal underworld feud dealt with a ‘Board of Governors’ of criminal businessman to launder their cash and make deals.Nicola speaks with journalist Eamon Dillon about the massive secret Garda investigation into the city’s gangland network which has laid bare how - in the underworld - when it comes to money - rivalry doesn’t matter.

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Superstar Russell Brand is the latest celebrity to be hit with claims of sex assault by victims which would have once devastated his career.But what is the likely outcome for the star from the sensational claims by four women who say he assaulted and raped them?Has the media landscape of 2023 changed enough for Brand to survive being cancelled or will he lose his status as an outspoken comedian who is followed by millions?Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the scandal which has deep implications for Brand and those who employed him.

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Journalist Jane MacSorely sipped a glass of Champagne and stared at the man on the oxygen tank who had invited her to dinner.It was probably the strangest interview she'd ever done in her entire career, but it was also the beginning of a journey that would culminate in the launch of her incredible podcast 'I Am Not Nicholas'.The man in the three piece suit and sporting a bow tie was claiming to be an academic called Arthur Knight, who told Jane he had been wrongly accused of being an American fugitive that faked his own death in order to evade the law.But what was the truth? And where would her investigations take her?Nicola is joined by Jane to talk about this fascinating story, of the serial fraudster who courted the media, and who wound up in a COVID ward in a Glasgow hospital.She tells of the charming chameleon of many faces, who still believes he can fool the world with a spiders web of lies, deceit and fear.

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An infamous financial adviser is found to have shared an office with Daniel Kinahan in Dubai where he claimed to have become a money guru for the young and ambitious.But was Norwegian native Thomas Stray, famous in Denmark for his boom and bust lifestyle, really unaware of who he was hot desking with at the Boulevard Plaza really or would a simple google search have alerted him to the background of Ireland’s most wanted?Nicola is joined by Niall Donald to chat about the curious connections between Stray and Kinahan and the cryptocurrency they discussed in the run up to the US sanctions.

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Evidence heard during the first court appearance of seven men charged with the attempted murder of DCI John Caldwell in Tyrone last February show a complex enterprise to kill which was more personal than political.A Special sitting of Dungannon Magistrates Court this week heard how the thread between the men was that each had something against Mr Caldwell who has been investigating serious crime in Northern Ireland despite the fact the New IRA have claimed the shooting as a political statement.Nicola is joined by Belfast Telegraph Crime Correspondent Allison Morris to discuss the bail hearings of the group who cross the religious and political divide but who a court heard came together as each had a personal gripe with he senior police officer and his work.

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GERRY 'The Monk' Hutch hated what organised crime had become by the time, the State say, he was headed North in a jeep with Jonathan Dowdall to facilitate the return of the AK47s used in the Regency Hotel attack.It was March 2016, his brother 'Neddy' was already dead, and he knew that a peace deal with the Kinahan organisation, overseen by Northern Irish paramilitaries, was his only hope of saving his family.Such is the narrative spilling out at the Special Criminal Court, where surveillance tapes are being played and where Hutch stands accused of murder.Nicola Tallant chats with Niall Donald about plots to kill, about an underworld in turmoil and about 'The Monk' on a mission to stop a tide of murder.

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Jonathan Dowdall said he wanted to make stories more "beefy" for Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch and was only trying to impress him with tales of bomb making, ordering a shootout at his Uncle Jimmy's home and pointing out possible kidnap opportunities on their doomed trip north.Dowdall also told the Special Criminal Court that he was disgusted with himself on the bugged conversations recorded by gardai, saying that none of what he said was true, that he talked too much, and when there were uncomfortable silences he filled it with bravado and pub talk.Nicola Tallant chats with Niall Donald and discusses the Regency Hotel murder Trial and what the witness will say next.

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The true crime genre is one of the world’s most popular in books, podcasts, tv shows and films but what is it that makes us so drawn to violence and and all things criminal?Nicola is talking to author and columnist Sarah Weinman whose latest book Evidence of Things Seen, an anthology of true crime essays and works, is published this summer.The award winning writer who has uncovered the real life Lolita and who considers true crime an all encompassing genre of how society behaves says our obsession with crime goes back to the Salem Witch trials and will continue well into the future in different formats.

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