Hearing date to be set for proposed extradition of Jonathan Gill

Alison O’Riordan

A hearing date for the proposed extradition of Jonathan Gill, who is wanted in Northern Ireland in connection with the murder of gangland criminal Robbie Lawlor in Belfast six years ago, is expected to be set by the High Court on Friday.

Gill (44) with an address at Malahide Road in Clontarf, is wanted by the PSNI in Northern Ireland so he can be prosecuted, on a “joint enterprise basis”, for the murder of 36-year-old Robbie Lawlor, who was shot dead in the front garden of a house at Etna Drive, Belfast, on the morning of April 4th, 2020.

Gill is also accused of possession of a 9mm self-loading pistol with intent to endanger life on a date unknown between April 2nd and 5th that year.

The courts have heard in other cases how gardaí are satisfied that Lawlor, a notorious criminal linked to several violent deaths, murdered Drogheda teenager Keane Mulready Woods in January 2020.

The PSNI believe Lawlor's murder was part of an ongoing drugs feud, involving criminal elements in the Dublin, Sligo and Drogheda areas.

Counsel for Gill, Gemma McLoughlin-Burke, on Monday told Judge Paul Burns that a notional hearing date was listed for Tuesday but that the matter had been pushed forward to today.

The lawyer said the respondent's solicitor is based in Belfast and was unable to make arrangements to attend the High Court today.

She asked that her application for "a second counsel" in the case be listed for April 24th.

Burns agreed to the request and said "another notional hearing date" would take place then.

The judge said a date for Gill's extradition hearing would be set on April 24th and remanded him in custody until then.

On April 3rd last, Gill was arrested at an address on the Malahide Road in Clontarf, Dublin, having been detained on foot of an extradition warrant issued to the PSNI by Belfast Magistrates’ Court on March 31st.