Crime World

A Galway criminal who was the first to be charged under Ireland’s gangland legislation has made history again after he pleaded guilty to a string of offences in the north where he was nabbed by his Encrochat phone.

Notorious crook Michael O’Loughlin was one of a huge number of suspected criminals lifted after cops hacked the encrypted phone network in 2020 which was being used to send messages between gangs.

It is expected he would go to trial and that his case would be the first to test the legality of the process before a Northern Irish court. However, he pleaded guilty to more than 40 offences including conspiracy to murder and import heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis and was handed down a 12 year sentence.

Nicola speaks to Niall Donald about O’Loughlin and his run of bad luck with the law.

Sentencing for sex offenders has been thrown into debate after a shocking case of the sex assault of a baby resulted in a four year prison sentence.

Nicola speaks with Niall Donald and Eimear Rabbitt about sentence guidelines, controversial judges and the public perception of jail terms.

When news editor Alison Sandy began investigating the sinister disappearance of Marion Barter for a podcast series she did not know where the story would take her.

The mother of two sold her home, quit her job and made plans to move to Europe, but when her family stopped hearing from her it was soon discovered that she had changed her name.

Working with the missing woman’s daughter Sally Leydon and journalist Bryan Seymour, the hit Australian podcast ‘The Lady Vanishes’ led to the mysterious case unravelling in real-time, as a listener found a key piece of information that would blow the case right open.

Clodagh Meaney speaks to Alison Sandy about the podcast and how the team managed to help piece together what really happened to Marion Barter.

Drug dealer David Waldron's links to some of the country's most notorious criminals were revealed as he finally lost his mammoth legal battle with CAB.

The bureau won their four-year case to have Waldron's assets - including stunning mansion in Wexford - declared the proceeds of crime.

As part of the case, CAB described how Waldron's associates included a number of infamous gangland figures who had been murdered by gunmen.

Niall speaks with Eamon Dillon about David Waldron's drug dealing operation and his criminal partners.

It’s a year to the day that Gerry The Monk Hutch walked free from the Special Criminal Court after he was found not guilty of the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel.

So what has it been like a year on from those dramatic events and what has the veteran criminal being doing since he tasted freedom?

Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about The Monk and the day his chips came in.