THE staircase in Hutch gangster James ‘Mago’ Gately’s home was removed before officers seized the home today after it was declared the proceeds of crime.
CAB officers moved in on the north Dublin property after Gately – who the Kinahans tried to kill twice in 2017 – along with his partner Charlene Lam and three children had been ordered to vacate it by today.
However they had to draft in ladders to get up to the second floor of the house because the staircase was missing.
The expensive front gates on the driveway were also taken away before it was officially seized.
The couple were tackled by the bureau in a long running case stretching back to 2021, with Mr Justice Alexander Owens declaring that they spent their “exotic lifestyle” in airport terminals and on luxury cruises in trips funded by criminal cash.
They were stripped of the family home at 77 Glin Drive in Coolock – which was “overwhelmingly” the proceeds of crime – a 132 VW Golf and a plush €4,400 Rolex.
The confiscated assets – worth around €600,000 – will now be sold and the proceeds will be handed back to the exchequer.
Globetrotting thug Gately, 38, first bought the house in 2013 for €125,000 but was upgraded and renovated for a cost of up to €440,000 with a large two-story extension at the back, with the judge describing it as a “very high standard” renovation.
The house was “radically” reconfigured, with a new fitted kitchen and an island, along with a solar panel on the roof, installed. The house was also replumbed and rewired with a new heating system put in.
The front and the rear gardens were landscaped and a new rear patio was laid outside. It had been fitted with a reinforced door and CCTV throughout.
They also lived an “exotic lifestyle” and they were virtually never in the State, Mr Justice Owens said.
He added that they spent their time in airport terminals or on cruises on the South Seas and on the Caribbean.
Some of the couple’s trips included a three-week cruise to Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea and Japan in 2018, the Caribbean the year beforehand, while other holidays in 2021 saw the pair jet to Barcelona in Spain and Lisbon in Portugal.
Other luxury spending included jewellery and plastic surgery.
The judge examined bank accounts from 2013 to 2019 and he said the mortgage payments made up until that point were found to be the proceeds of crime.
He had previously ruled that Ms Lam should be paid €5,000 in relation to proceeds of the sale for her legitimate payments on the mortgage.
It was argued that she paid €16,000 since 2019 in mortgage payments that she also wants returned.
ALLEGEDLY LINKED TO MURDERS
In submissions to the High Court, CAB said that Gately is a leading member of the Hutch Organised Crime Gang, involved in armed robberies and importation of drugs.
Gately was the subject of two assassination attempts by the Kinahans in April and May 2017.
CAB also submitted to the High Court that he was involved in a number of armed robberies himself.
It alleged that he was linked to a number of murders, including that of Aidan Byrne and Eamon ‘The Don’ Dunne in 2010 along with the killing of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016.
Gately was never convicted of any of these offences.
