CAB ‘steps' up case against ‘Mago' after staircase found removed from house
Gately and his partner spent €440k on renovating the Coolock house
Gangland figure James 'Mago' Gately is being targeted again by the Criminal Assets Bureau after the staircase was removed from his house following its seizure by the State.
This week, the High Court heard substantial damage was caused to the property in Coolock, north Dublin, before officers moved in to seize it in April.
Both Gately and his partner Charlene Lam are now the subject of contempt proceedings as CAB claimed the couple were in breach of a High Court order
The Bureau brought a motion for breach of the order this week after previously seeking permission to apply for a committal order.
Charlene Lam
Counsel for CAB told Judge Alexander Owens, who made the original court order, that when officers arrived they found 'substantial damage' including the missing staircase.
Gates and a CCTV camera system had also been removed before gardai arrived to take possession of the house, and ladders had to be used to access the upstairs area.
Gately survived being shot and a previous assassination attempt as part of the Kinahan-Hutch feud was foiled by gardai.
He was photographed carrying the coffin of Gary Hutch, the victim of the murder which sparked the lethal underworld war.
James 'Mago' Gately carries Gary Hutch's coffin
The CAB case against Gately started in 2016 after officers who raided his Glin Drive house in Coolock noted that it had been expensively refurbished.
It later emerged in the High Court the couple had spent an estimated €440,000 on the house they had bought for €125,000.
Mago Gately and his partner Charlene Lam could be found in contempt of court and face fines or imprisonment if they are found to be responsible for the damage.
Last June, the house at Glin Drive was declared the proceeds of crime after a long legal wrangle over the property.
In April this year it was ruled that €6,000 from any potential sale of the house be returned to Ms Lam.
James 'Mago' Gately's home on Glin Drive, which was seized by the CAB
Missing front gates at the former home of James 'Mago'Gately on Glin Drive, which was seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau. Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin.
Judge Alex Owens found this amount reflected the contribution she made to mortgage payments from her own legitimate income.
In the Criminal Assets Bureau case against Gately, in which a car and a Rolex watch were declared the proceeds of crime, he was described as a senior figure in the Hutch Organised Crime Group.
He cut contact with the Kinahans following the 2015 murder of his friend Gary Hutch by the cartel in Spain.
Such was Gately's importance, the Kinahan cartel launched two bids to kill him within a matter of weeks in 2017.
The first, involving infamous Estonian hitman Imre Arakas, was foiled by gardai after an attempt was made to target Gately in Newry.
The second attempt saw Caolan Smyth shoot Gately four times at Clonshaugh Road in north Dublin, including once in the neck.
Evidence from CAB also linked Gately to three murders, two of which were in 2010 when he was just 24.
He was arrested and questioned over the killing of convicted criminal Aidan Byrne in Dublin, a killing for which Jonathan 'Yuka' Douglas has been convicted and sentenced to life.
Gately was also linked by CAB to the killing of infamous gangland figure Eamon 'The Don' Dunne at a pub in Cabra in April 2010.
The third murder he has been linked to is that of David Byrne in the attack on the Regency Hotel organised by the Hutch gang.
Gately and his partner spent €440k on renovating the Coolock house
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