Episode 1103: Slane Castle killer Michael Hodgins and his 36-year long criminal career

Dutch crime reporter Peter R. De Vries died in hospital yesterday, a week after he was shot on a busy Amsterdam street in an attack which has drawn outrage across Europe. As his family and friends mourn his loss, police are focusing on the advisory role he was playing to state witness Nabil B, the underworld crime figure set to give evidence against his one-time gang boss Ridouan Taghi.Taghi, an associate of Daniel Kinahan, is already suspected of being behind the murder of Nabil B’s innocent brother and that of his lawyer Derk Wiersum, a father of two young children who was gunned down on the doorstep of his home in 2019.This week, as De Vries still clung to life, Nicola Tallant spoke with with De Telegraaf journalist Saskia Belleman, who worked along side the celebrity journalist and who saw him only days before he was shot.Saskia reveals the types of criminals who carry out these horrendous acts of narco-terrorism, the disconnect they have with their victims and the long-term effects the murder of De Vries will have on Taghi’s trial. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

16 Juli 202116min

It’s just three years since a hitman attempted to murder gang boss Owen Maguire, leaving him paralysed and dividing a town’s underworld into two feuding sides intent on wiping each other out.Since then, six assassination attempts, four brutal murders - including the torture and dismemberment of teenager Keane Mulready-Woods - and a huge garda effort to protect the local community has turned Drogheda into a town under siege from organised crime.So why has such an explosion of violence happened in an ordinary commuter town?Nicola Tallant chats with Irish Independent Crime Correspondent Ken Foy about the origins of the Drogheda feud, the murder probes which have netted some key players, the social media taunts which have deepened the hatred between the rival sides and the fears that a new generation is now rising from the ashes of war. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 Juli 202127min

It may seem like a simple solution to the war on drugs – legalise weed and cocaine, regulate the market and then tax the profits.This week, 100 youth workers in Ireland joined forces against prohibition and are calling for just that. But is such dramatic change practical and what are the pitfalls when it comes to legalising drugs?Do our youth workers really want Ireland to radicalise that much or are they just desperate for us to start recognising the inequalities in our society that lie at the heart our lost generations of young people.Nicola Tallant is joined by youth worker Eddie D’Arcy and criminologist Trina O’Connor, who have both been on the front line of the drugs war and have worked with young offenders, disadvantaged communities and vulnerable kids for decades. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

10 Juli 202142min

Politicians, police and media colleagues in The Netherlands have been horrified by the shooting of famous crime journalist Peter R. De Vries, who was gunned down in Amsterdam on Tuesday night.The well-known journalist has been working as an advisor to Nabil B. the state witness in the infamous Marengo trial.The central character in this high-profile trial is Ridouan Taghi, the Dutch-Moroccan organised crime boss who previously partnered with Daniel Kinahan’s Irish mafia to flood Europe with cocaine.The shocking shooting has been described as a ‘black day’ in the Netherlands and an ‘attack on press freedom’, with ripple effects right into the heart of the foundations of democracy.Nicola Tallant chats to Mediahuis Ireland publisher Peter Vandermeersch about the daylight shooting in the heart of Amsterdam, the significance of the attack on The Netherlands' star journalist and the shadowy gang boss who has brought narco terrorism to Europe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

7 Juli 202112min

Mob boss Daniel Kinahan has been keeping his head down in Dubai since a BBC Panorama documentary catapulted him and his links to boxing into the spotlight last February.But now, a determined American lawyer has put his name in the headlines again and this time in the Emirates where he is desperate to sever all links to crime and to sports-wash his reputation.So why has Kinahan and the MTK boxing company he founded been summonsed to appear in a California courtroom and what could the civil case accusing them of racketeering and money laundering mean. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

5 Juli 202120min

She was the teenage drug mule who became a household name and when she was jailed in Peru for attempting to smuggle 11 kilos of cocaine to Ibiza her fame was cemented.But since then, the story of Michaela McCollum and her sidekick Melissa Reid has seen many ups and downs and while Reid has faded into oblivion, Instagram sensation McCollum continues to court celebrity.Cancelled by Piers Morgan, criticised for courting the media and now laid bare in a BBC series centred on the story of the 'Peru Two', Michaela McCollum has never tried to hide from her past but who is she and what price is her fame.Nicola Tallant is joined by journalist Lynne Kelleher who has written extensively on the 'Peru Two' and who has managed to get a sneak preview of the new BBC series set to be released tonight which McCollum has participated in for free. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

3 Juli 202147min

It’s the case that has baffled Northern Ireland - and on the one-year anniversary of the discovery of the body of tragic schoolboy Noah Donohue in a drain, it is clear that there are still more questions than answers.This week, a preliminary inquest into the 14-year-old’s death has heard that a prisoner has now said his former cellmate confessed to the teenager's murder and that the PSNI are now investigating the claims.So, will the latest alleged jailhouse confession simply join a long list of theories and false leads which have dogged the case and will the PSNI ever get to the bottom of what happened in the last hours of Noah’s life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 Juli 202130min

His guilty plea has meant little evidence of Peadar Keating's role in a plot to kill will ever be heard.But behind the headlines lies one of the Kinahan mafia’s highest-ranking Irish executives and one of its most-sought-after targets.Nicola Tallant chats with Sunday World deputy Editor Niall Donald about the significance of Keating’s guilty plea, his role at the boardroom table of Ireland’s deadliest mob and James ‘Mago’ Gately, the assassins' target with nine lives whose loyalty to the Hutch faction makes him a unique figure the brutal feud. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Juli 202131min