Hutch mobster James ‘Mago' Gately tells court he and partner have broken up as he admits ripping out stairs

Sunday World

14 hours ago

Gately said he split with partner who had left the house before it was damaged
The pair – who have been in a long running battle with the Criminal Assets Bureau over their former home in Coolock – looked like they didn't have a care in the world as they left the High Court this week.
Charlene had reason to smile following the court hearing as the judge ruled she will still receive €11,000 from the sale of the home by CAB despite officers finding extensive damage had been done to the property when they entered it.
Gately, who admitted ripping out the stairs at his former home, said his relationship with Charlene had come to an end and that he was living alone at the house on Glin Drive when he stripped it in February this year.
James 'Mago' Gately and Charlene Lam leave the High Court this week
The bureau said it will cost €95,000 to repair the damage done to the property which included the staircase being taken out, along with internal doors, architraves, the entire kitchen and other fitting.
The couple turned up together at the High Court this week after CAB brought an application over a breach of the court's orders.
The court had ordered the property to be handed over to CAB by April 1 this year.
It was previously heard that €440,000 had been spent on renovating the house, which had been bought for €125,000.
The court had also ordered that €11,000 from the sale of the house be returned to Ms Lam, who had made mortgage payments from legitimate income.
The pair were engrossed in their phones outside the court
This week, Judge Alexander Owens said that interest on the unpaid mortgage is building up and the house should be sold as soon as possible.
After that the sale was completed, he said it should be assessed to see what damage had been done to the value of the house, and that he would deal with it then.
Judge Owens said he accepted Ms Lam had left the property before it was damaged and that she should still receive her share from the sale of the property.
In affidavit evidence this week, Gately was 'putting his hands up' to the fact that he removed the material from the house, which he said he sold to members of the public for a total of €5,000.
James 'Mago' Gately and Charlene Lam leave the High Court this week
News in 90 Seconds - June 29th
CAB said it wasn't credible that Gately thought he was entitled to do what he did to the house after it was declared the proceeds of crime.
The Hutch mobster said he hadn't taken legal advice, but in hindsight should have and 'it would have been better if I had done so'.
He said he had organised an electrician, brought out all the rubbish and left the keys for CAB officers to gain access to the property, and asked the judge to be as lenient as possible.
CAB officers at the house in Coolock which was renovated to the tune of €440k
It was put to the court that Gately should pay between €5,000 and €95,000.
Counsel for CAB said it was very important that there is compliance with such court orders and there has to be 'a deterrent element' to this.
Counsel for Gately said the court knows he is a person of limited means and that the loss of value should be calculated after the property has been sold.
Judge Owens said that there was insufficient proof that there had been contempt of court but the actions had the effect of reducing the value of the house.
In the CAB case against him, in which a car and a Rolex watch were also declared the proceeds of crime, Gately was described as a senior figure in the Hutch Organised Crime Group.
He cut ties with the Kinahans following the 2015 murder of his friend Gary Hutch by the cartel in Spain, and helped carry his coffin at the funeral.
The Kinahan mob launched two bids to kill Gately in 2017.
Cartel lieutenant Sean McGovern, who was extradited from Dubai, is facing two charges over one plot to kill Gately.
Gunmen pose as gardai at the Regency Hotel in 2016
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McGovern is charged with both directing a crime gang to carry out surveillance on Gately and facilitating a criminal organisation between October 17 2015 and April 6, 2017.
Evidence from CAB has linked Gately to three murders, two of which were in 2010 when he was just 24 years old.
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 was that of David Byrne in the attack on the Regency Hotel, which was organised by the Hutch gang.
During the CAB case Gately and Lam were allowed free legal aid despite CAB contesting the couple had gone on luxury cruises and enjoyed 'eye-watering' foreign travel.
Judge Owens said in his 2022 ruling that while there was evidence of spending in the past, he said, 'things were beginning to dry up of late.'