Episode 199: The bugging dilemma - Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch's murder trial at a crossroads

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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”.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.