James McGovern

A HIRED hitman declared a “silencer would be good” as Kinahan lieutenant Sean McGovern helped plan a hit on James ‘Mago’ Gately, a court heard today.

And Estonian Imre Arakas told gang members the Hutch associate could be taken out by “just one shot to the head from distance — and that’s it.”

McGovern — who went by the nickname ‘Knife’ — also told an associate the Regency Hotel attack was “personal” and insisted: “On my baby’s life I’m not stopping.”

And in encrypted messages hacked by Gardai, he also referred to the possibility of targeting a rival criminal’s daughter but asked: “Would that bring too much heat?”

McGovern — wearing a full navy outfit — was at the Special Criminal Court for his sentencing hearing today.

He kept his head ­facing downwards in the dock as most of the ­evidence was detailed.

The Dubliner, 40, last month admitted to two counts of directing the activities of a criminal organisation. One rap relates to the bid to target rival ‘Mago’ between October 2015 and April 2017.

The second offence refers to the murder of innocent Noel ‘Duck Egg’ Kirwan, who was shot dead in December 2016.

Kirwan had no involvement in criminality

Detective Supt Dave Gallagher, of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, told how McGovern directed members of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group in the attempt to target Gately.

He explained that before 2014, the Kinahans and Hutches worked as “a criminal network” for ­several years.

However, there was a falling out which led to a number of violent incidents. It culminated in the Regency attack on February 5, 2016.

On that occasion, Kinahan hood David Byrne — whose brother Liam was a senior gang member — was murdered by a Hutch hit team.

Two others, including McGovern, were injured. And Gately was blamed by the Kinahan OCG for having an involvement in it.

The court heard that detectives used six strands — including the analysis of encrypted phones — to investigate the gang’s conspiracy against Gately.

One encrypted message obtained from these devices dates back to October 2015. ‘Cap’ — a senior Kinahan figure — asked McGovern if he knew Gately’s home address.

Other messages outlined in court were sent on February 7, 2016, two days after the Regency attack.

‘Cap’ told McGovern: “They’re desperate, that was their big stand, and they wanted to do all of us.”

McGovern replied: “They targeted us, they wanted you and the rest of us was a bonus. This is personal. On my baby’s life I’m not stopping.”

‘Cap’ then told him: “Mate no one is stopping until they’re all dead.”

Other messages saw McGovern call Gately “a weasel”, adding: “All weasels get caught out in the end.”

McGovern also texted about the possibility of “doing” a Hutch ­member’s daughter — before then questioning: “Or would that bring too much heat?”

‘Cap’ said it would, but suggested: “Maybe Neddy.”

He was Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch’s older brother, who was shot dead the following night on February 8, 2016.

Later that month, on February 26, McGovern ­texted ‘Cap’: “The sooner the ­better we drop one of these mate.” He added: “I feel a bit of luck coming.”

Det Supt Gallagher also told how batches of trackers were brought into the country by gang members in early 2017. They were placed on cars belonging to Mago Gately, his partner and sister.

Another was placed on Jason Bonney’s vehicle. Bonney was later convicted as a getaway driver in the Regency Hotel attack.

And exchanges by other members of the mob on March 26, 2017 gave an insight into how the group was surveilling with the use of trackers.

One message read: “That’s the way we’ve been doing it last few months. ‘Knife’ sits on the laptop telling us where to go.”

McGovern told an associate below him in the OCG hierarchy to make sure a tracker was fully charged. A senior figure in the Kinahan OCG — using the handle ‘Bon’ — texted McGovern on the same day.

He wrote: “We get Mago this week and we’ll be laughing.”

The court also heard McGovern had sent “fresh pics” of Gately and his family to another member who was tracking his partner.

In late March 2017, the operation against Gately began to ramp up.

The Kinahan OCG became aware Gately was living at an apartment complex in Belfast. McGovern then travelled to the North, where CCTV spotted him conducting surveillance with other gang members.

He later text Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh — a senior gang member now serving a sentence in the UK for drug trafficking — after he had returned to his home in Crumlin, Dublin. He told Bomber that it was hard to keep watch on the location.

He added ‘Bon’ was considering getting foreigners in to kill Gately.

Gardai became aware in April 2017 that Imre Arakas, an Estonian hitman for hire, was arriving into Ireland and he was arrested.

He was found with an encrypted Blackberry phone and a piece of paper containing info on Gately and contact details for Kinahan gang members — including ‘Bon’.

The PSNI also recovered a tracker from Gately’s car in Belfast.

Messages from Arakas’ device showed McGovern had messaged ‘Bon’ — with the texts forwarded to the killer, aka ‘The Butcher.’

McGovern had told ‘Bon’ they had planted a tracker on Gately’s car, which they could monitor as the target returned to the car park at his Belfast apartment block.

McGovern said: “He parks in the same space always, so then you have him.”

In other exchanges, Arakas discussed how a “silencer would be good” for his gun — which he called a ‘dog’.

After Arakas was lifted by Gardai, McGovern and other Kinahan members discussed their paranoia and how cops were aware of the plot, questioning whether there was a “rat.”

They also continued to monitor the tracker on Gately’s car, which had been taken into a PSNI ­compound in Belfast.

In a later text to ‘Bon’, McGovern said: “Time to get the f*** out of here before we’re all back in cuffs.”

On April 5, 2017, Bon told McGovern: “We’ll have Mago in two to four weeks.” McGovern declared this was the “best news”, adding: “Once everyone is safe.”

Gately was shot five times the following month, on May 10, 2017, at a Dublin petrol station by Caolan Smyth, who is serving two decades behind bars for attempted murder.

Det Supt Gallagher also told how the Kinahan OCG was “engaged in a murderous feud against the Hutch OCG and at the same time involved in drugs and organised trafficking at an international level.”

The senior cop said McGovern — who was extradited to Ireland from Dubai in May 2025 — was a “senior lieutenant operating on the ground” at the time of the Gately kill plot.

McGovern’s barrister, Michael Bowman SC, asked the witness whether it is fair to say it was a circumstantial case. Det Supt Gallagher laughed: “It was a fairly strong circumstantial case.”

McGovern can face up to life behind bars. The hearing continues on Friday.