Episode 644: Conor McGregor handed down suspended jail sentence

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

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

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

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

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