Mob boss Daniel Kinahan said he fears he will be “jailed for life” in a podcast ahead of his extradition from Dubai to Ireland.
In the interview behind bars from his cell in the Middle East, he told Scottish podcaster James English that he thinks he already “got life in prison”. English, who previously interviewed Kinahan in 2022, released a portion of his interview with him on Friday.
Kinahan is due to be extradited from the United Arab Emirates to Dublin to go on trial. The 49-year-old is expected back from Dubai imminently after he lost his final appeal against that extradition.
The Director of Public Prosecutions has already ruled that Kinahan – head of the €1.5 billion drugs and crime cartel that bears his family name – is to be charged with serious gangland offences here. The Irish Mirror reports that he is to face charges of directing a crime gang – an offence that can see anyone convicted of it jailed for life.
View 3 ImagesDaniel Kinahan speaks to James English in a previous interview in 2022(Image: @jamesenglish0/Twitter)
In the excerpts from the interview, published on Mr English’s Instagram account on Friday afternoon, Kinahan said he believes he has already been convicted – even though is trial has not even started yet.
He told Mr English: “I think I have already got life in prison, James.” He added that he believe a deal has been done to get him back from Dubai quicker than normal extraditions.
“I think there is a deal being done, you know,” he said.
He continued: “I think we’re going to go through the dance now and the circus and the character assassination even more now of me and my family.”
Kinahan also raised the absence of Gardaí from the Regency Airport Hotel in north Dublin in February 2016 when the Hutch gang attacked a boxing bout he was at in an effort to murder him and colleagues. That attack saw the Hutch mob kill ally David Byrne – and miss Kinahan by seconds. Gardaí have faced repeated criticism for not having officers there – even though some media were present because they knew Kinahan would be attending.
View 3 ImagesA screengrab of podcaster James English’s Instagram page in which he publishes excerpts from an upcoming interview with Daniel Kinahan(Image: James English/Instagram)
Kinahan echoed that criticism, as well as slamming the slow reaction of the force to the attack.
He said: “There are so many things that happened and there is so much dirty things that I think it is time to start to come out now. Regarding the Regency, it took over 20 minutes for them to respond, there was no police there.
“They talk about, I’m a big mafia boss and this imaginary cartel that they created and there is no police at the Regency when there is a publicised boxing event on there. There’s four different reporters there, ready to take pictures.
“Police didn’t respond, (they are) two minutes away and the police didn’t respond for over 20 minutes.”
He continued: “People need to connect the dots now and start looking into this because once they unravel what is happening there it is going to unravel and it is going to be a snowball effect for all other corruption that has been going on over the last two, three, four decades.”
He also spoke about the moment a Hutch gunman pulled a gun on him during the attack – and how he managed to escape.
He said: “I seen him actually pulling the gun from the back of his waist and just pulling his hand up and then I just ran through the door.”
Kinahan also said he believes he has been scapegoated.
He said: “I believe I have not been an angel in my life and I don’t think anyone has been an angel. The person who points the finger has three fingers pointing back at themselves. I don’t want to play like I am a martyr and people believe he is innocent, he is a conspiracy theorist.
“But yeah, I believe in a way I am a scapegoat and anyone that looks into this so-called feud that they say they have created, then you will see, you will see things yourself if someone has the time to look into it.”
Before the US sanctions hit him and his father Christy and brother Christopher, Kinahan had been making inroads on his plan to become boxing’s Mr Fixit – and was trying to make himself a supremo in the game by facilitating major deals. That plan collapsed after he was targeted by the Americans – and he said he feels he could have made a difference in the sport.
He said: “I think I would have done a lot of good for boxing because I was not in boxing to launder money as they say – I never did that whatsoever. I think I would have given a lot back to boxing and helped a lot of people, you know.”
He also said he cannot understand how the media in Ireland can repeatedly write about him and call him a gang boss.
“That is a question that I would like to know,” he said.
And, when asked who is the most interesting person he has met, Kinahan replied: “I would say one of the most interesting people I spoke to, just for a short time, was (director) Guy Ritchie, without a doubt.”
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