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A high-ranking member of the Kinahan cartel and an accomplice have received sentences totaling 17 1/2 years in Special Criminal Court for orchestrating the gang’s plan to kill a member of the Hutch family in the city center. north of Dublin.
Patrick Curtis (38) of Bellman’s Walk, Seville Place, Dublin 1 was imprisoned for 10 years while his co-defendant Mohammed Smew (27) of Milner’s Square, Shanowen Road, Santry, Dublin 9 was sentenced to seven and a half years. years in prison for his role in the plot to assassinate Patrick “Patsy” Hutch.
Patrick Curtis and Smew are the last two men to be convicted of their involvement in the plot to kill Mr. Hutch.
Patrick Curtis previously admitted to directing the activities of a criminal organization within the State between February 1 and March 10, 2018. Smew had pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of a criminal organization, namely the murder of Mr. .Hutch, in providing, moving and repairing vehicles, and planning or assisting in planning an attempted shooting between February 1, 2018 and March 3, 2018.
Presiding Judge Judge Tony Hunt, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Dermot Dempsey, said the court accepted unconditional evidence of the nature of the Kinahan criminal group, which was organized hierarchically with a sub-cell structure. In this case, a specific sub-cell had been formed with the motive to assassinate Mr. Hutch, he said.
Patrick Curtis had supervised and directed the sub-cell and was the highest figure in its hierarchy, the judge said, adding that Patrick Curtis was not the author of the instructions, which he had received and passed on from his superiors.
Judge Hunt said there was no question that Patrick Curtis knew that he was running the sub-cell on behalf of the organized crime group Kinahan, which he called “an insidious organization”, in preparation for the murder of Mr. Hutch.
Screenshots
He said Patrick Curtis was the “leading figure within” the sub-cell of the organized crime group Kinahan and was therefore viewed by his superiors as a “trustee”, even if his lack of competence betrayed their trust.
The judge noted that Patrick Curtis had some difficulty dealing with the detailed nature of the murder instructions he received, causing him to compromise the security of the encrypted phone that Kinahan’s poster handed him by taking screenshots of his instructions in his unencrypted phone.
Referring to Mohammed Smew, Judge Hunt said the “striking feature” of this case was the “relative stability and prosperity of his childhood years” compared to the “dysfunctional and chaotic upbringing of many who engage in such matters.” The non-jury court has heard that both of Smew’s parents are physicians and that he had embarked on a law degree from Griffith College.
A doctor told Patrick Curtis at the sentencing hearing last month that incarcerating the claustrophobic Kinahan cartel member was like putting “a man with arachnophobia in a cell with spiders.” Portlaoise Prison Deputy General Practitioner Dr Conor McGarry said Patrick Curtis was diagnosed with excessive compulsive disorder and had historical problems that have affected his ability to cope with prison in Ireland. He said the defendant was locked in a car at the age of seven, broke his nails while trying to get out of the vehicle, and had suffered from fear of being alone ever since.
At the sentencing hearing it was said that Patrick Curtis suffers from irrational behavior and blesses himself about sixty times a day to compensate for negative thoughts. He shares a cell in Block A of Portlaoise Prison with his brother Stephen, as his anxiety levels are so high and it has never happened before that two inmates shared the same cell, said Dr. McGarry.
‘Unfortunate situation’
Judge Hunt said Monday that Patrick Curtis’s attorney, Michael O’Higgins SC, had submitted that the court should apply an additional reduction on the grounds that his client had a condition that would make serving a lengthy sentence significantly more difficult. “In this first instance, it is tempting to observe that not conspiring to murder other people would have been the best way to avoid this unfortunate situation,” the judge remarked.
The judge said that the main sentence for Curtis was 16 years in prison and that the most important mitigating factor was his conviction, which deserved a direct discount of 25 percent. Judge Hunt indicated that if Curtis really found the prison so unappealing, then she should have no difficulty maintaining her part of the “social contract involved in her acceptance of a portion of her conditionally suspended sentence.” The judge said she would suspend the last two years of the 12-year adjusted sentence on the condition that the defendant post a bond in the amount of € 100 to keep the peace and behave well during her time in custody, during any period of freedom
The juryless court imposed a final sentence of 12 years in prison with the last two years suspended on Curtis.
Storm Emma
In sentencing Smew, Judge Hunt observed that the evidence unequivocally established that he assisted in the preparations for the “very serious crime of murder” and that he was initially prepared to serve on the “first line of murder.” “There is no doubt that Smew’s conduct was of considerable assistance to the Kinahan organized crime group during the time that he was involved,” he said.
He noted that the plan to carry out the murder was postponed due to the arrival of the storm Emma and Smew was arrested and placed in custody in connection with a separate matter after the arrival of the storm.
The judge set a main sentence of 11 years in prison and said the court found the most important mitigating factor to be his guilty plea, which deserved a 25 percent discount. Smew was sentenced to eight years and three months in prison with the last nine months suspended.
The men’s sentences dated back to December 2019, when they were arrested for the first time.
The court previously heard that Patrick Curtis has 13 prior convictions that include traffic and public order offenses, as well as violent disorder. Smew has 15 prior convictions that include property damage, theft and the production of an item in the course of a fight.
In June, Judge Hunt imposed sentences totaling 19 years on three men who also participated in the Kinahan Cartel plot to assassinate Hutch. Michael Burns (43) was jailed for nine years, while Stephen Curtis (32), Patrick Curtis’ younger brother, and Ciaran O’Driscoll (25) were each sentenced to five years in prison for their role in the plot to assassinate Mr. Conejera.
Last May, Kinahan cartel infantryman Mark Capper (31), who “spilled cold water on himself” and backed out of a plot to assassinate Hutch three days before the proposed murder was also jailed by the court Special Penalty for seven and a half years. half-year. Capper had admitted to assisting the organized crime group in a plot to kill Mr. Hutch by providing and repairing vehicles for the criminal organization and conducting reconnaissance.
In July 2019, a three-man “hired team” received sentences totaling 36.5 years in Special Criminal Court for planning to kill Mr. Hutch before they were intercepted by Gardaí just 250 meters from the house. from your goal in the north city center of Dublin. Gary Thompson (35) and his brother Glen Thompson (25) were each imprisoned for 12 years and six months. A third man, Afghan war veteran Robert Browne (36) was sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison.
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