Man wanted for the murder of Robbie Lawlor hit with €860k CAB bill
Eoin Reynolds
Jonathan Gill, who is wanted in Northern Ireland to face a charge that he murdered gangland figure Robbie Lawlor, has been hit with a liability of more than €860,000 by the Criminal Assets Bureau for unpaid taxes, a court heard.
The liability formed part of an objection by the State to Gill (44) being granted bail while he awaits a hearing which will decide whether he will be extradited to Northern Ireland to face the murder charge.
A garda cited several reasons, including access to large sums of cash and alleged links to organised crime, as to why he believes Gill poses a flight risk if he is granted bail ahead of that hearing on June 3rd.
Gemma McLoughlin Burke BL, for Gill, argued that the €860,000 liability is largely made up of interest payments for income tax going back to 2005.
She said her client is still in negotiations regarding the income tax he owes and the liability with CAB.
Judge Patrick McGrath did not rule on the bail application but adjourned the hearing to June 3rd to allow Ms McLoughlin-Burke to clarify what taxes Gill has paid in that period.
Det Gda Robert Cumerford told Leanora Frawley BL, for the State, that Mr Gill was arrested following the issue of a Trade and Cooperation Agreement warrant by the Northern Irish authorities.
The warrant alleges that Mr Gill, of Malahide Road, Clontarf, on Dublin's northside was part of a joint enterprise to murder Robert Lawlor on April 4th 2020.
The murder of Lawlor, the detective said, arose out of an ongoing feud involving criminal gangs from Dublin, Drogheda, and Sligo in which several key personalities have been killed.
Gardaí believe Lawlor murdered Drogheda teenager Keane Mulready Woods, whose remains were dismembered before being discovered in various locations.
Gill faces a further charge that between April 2nd and 5th 2020 he possessed a 9mm self-loading pistol with the intent to endanger life or cause serious property damage or to allow another person to do so.
Det Gda Cumerford cited in his objection to bail the seriousness of the charges, both of which carry a potential life sentence, and the weight of the evidence as detailed by the PSNI in the warrant.
He said allegations that Mr Gill has links to organised crime create further concerns that he has the means to leave the country.
The detective further cited a liability Gill has with the Criminal Assets Bureau CAB for more than €860,000. Det Gda Cumerford said the liability indicates that Gill has access to large sums of cash, which could be used to leave the country.
The detective said that while Mr Gill had filed an affidavit claiming to have worked "for many years" for his own company, Jonathan Gill Mediation, CAB has said he has not filed a tax return since 2005.
The detective said there was also a concern that Gill could have access to what gardaí call a "false genuine passport". In 2009, he said, a man applied for a passport using his own name and a genuine birth certificate but with Gill's photograph attached.
When gardaí investigated, the man to whom the passport was issued denied having made the application or receiving the passport.
The passport was never found, and Gill also denied any knowledge of it. The Director of Public Prosecution opted not to prosecute, he said.
The detective further cited an article by journalist Nicola Tallant alleging that Gill applied for residency in the United Arab Emirates but was denied.
The court heard that Gill's father, John Gill, had offered an independent surety of €100,000 for his son's bail.
John and Catherine Gill both took the stand to say they understood the nature of the charges against their son and the responsibility placed on them.
They said Jonathan would live with them and they would call gardaí if he breached any of the conditions of his bail.
They said the €100,000 was available to them as they recently sold an apartment and Catherine received a substantial settlement following an "accident".
The State accepted that the surety was suitable and legitimate.
Catherine Gill asked the judge to grant bail, saying her son "definitely will be here every time you want him". She said: "There is no way he is going to abscond. He has children, he has a young child, he is going nowhere."
In submissions for the State, Ms Frawley said the evidence establishes that Gill has access to large amounts of money which the court can be satisfied comes from an unlawful source.
She said there is further evidence that he is linked to organised crime and suggested the court could infer that a person looking to obtain a 'false genuine passport' is "seeking to leave the jurisdiction under another identity".
While the State accepts that Gill's father is a suitable surety and the €100,000 is legitimate, Ms Frawley said the court must weigh up all the factors.
In response, Ms McLoughlin Burke said the State was "scraping the barrel" in its objections.
She said her client has ties to the jurisdiction through his parents, siblings, and children, and the independent surety offered is substantial.
She said there is no evidence her client had any involvement in the application for a false passport and asked the court to consider as irrelevant the newspaper article regarding an alleged application for residency in the United Arab Emirates.
Any further concerns can be dealt with by conditions, she said, including that her client would observe a curfew and sign on twice daily at a garda station.
