John Traynor (1948 – 24 October 2021) was an Irish criminal who was one of the contacts in the criminal world for murdered Irish

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Veronica Guerin Veronica Guerin (5 July 1958 – 26 June 1996) was an Irish crime reporter who was murdered by drug lords. Born in Dublin, she was an athlete in school and later played on the Irish national teams for both football and basketball. After stud ...

.RTÉ Newssite abou
arrest of Traynor
in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

of 2 September 2010

Career

Traynor was a central and important figure in the Dublin underworld. He had associations with the

Irish National Liberation Army The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seek ...

(INLA). He initially worked with

Martin Cahill Martin "The General" Cahill (23 May 1949 – 18 August 1994) was an Irish crime boss from Dublin. He masterminded a series of burglaries and armed robberies, and was shot and killed while out on bail for kidnapping charges. The Provisional Iris ...

's gang and eventually owned a derelict shop building that Cahill formerly owned in

Arbour Hill Arbour Hill ( ga, Cnoc an Arbhair) is an area of Dublin within the inner city on the Northside of the River Liffey, in the Dublin 7 postal district. Arbour Hill, the road of the same name, runs west from Blackhall Place in Stoneybatter, and ...

. During the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

investigation into Cahill's 1986 theft of the Beit-collection paintings from Russborough House, Blessington,

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

, detectives believed that the paintings were stored for a time at Arbour Hill. He transferred his allegiance to fellow former Cahill gang member, John Gilligan. He also associated with Gilligan gang members, Brian Meehan and Patrick Holland. In 1992, he was arrested and convicted in England for his involvement in a scam involving bearer bonds stolen in the

City bonds robbery The City bonds robbery of 1990 was a heist in which £291.9 million (equivalent to £ million in ) was stolen in London, England. The carefully planned operation made it seem at first as if a courier had been mugged on 2 May, yet the C ...

. Jailed for seven years at

HM Prison Highpoint North HM Prison Highpoint North (formerly called Highpoint Prison and Edmunds Hill Prison) is a Category C men's prison, located in the village of Stradishall (near Haverhill) in Suffolk, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Servi ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, Traynor was granted compassionate leave to visit his wife and children in Templeogue, but he never returned. Authorities in the UK eventually issued an international arrest warrant against Traynor.

Veronica Guerin

He returned to Gilligan's gang in Dublin and began building up a prostitution business based in a

massage parlour A massage parlor (American English) or massage parlour (Canadian/British English) is a place where massage services are provided for a fee. In the 19th century, the term began to be used in English as a euphemism for a brothel. Context In 189 ...

. He also became a confidential source for journalist Guerin. On 30 January 1995, Traynor hired a gunman to shoot her in the leg at her home. At the time of her murder, in 1996, Traynor was seeking a High Court order against Guerin to prevent her from publishing a book about his involvement in organised crime. Garda detectives believe that Traynor was involved in planning Guerin's murder. Gardaí believe that Traynor tipped off Gilligan about her whereabouts on the day she was murdered.Irish Independent website article o
the fight against druglords
of 22 June 2008, retrieved 3 September 2010 According to later testimony by Gilligan, Traynor ordered the murder of Guerin without his knowledge or permission.Irish Independent website article o

of 8 February 2008, visited 3 September 2010

First Netherlands arrest

Traynor fled Ireland after Guerin was killed, initially to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and has never officially returned. He then moved across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, mainly between

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Arrested in 1997 with Brian Meehan, who drove the motorbike when Guerin was killed, he was later released without charge. In the subsequent investigation by the Garda following Guerin's murder, Traynor was found to be involved in a wide variety of criminal enterprises. He was second in command to Gilligan, and the gang had operations from organising armed robberies to drug smuggling,

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

and

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

. The Criminal Assets Bureau was later successful in the High Court, when a judgment mortgage was registered on the Arbour Hill shop, with the seizure of a significant portion of the disposal of a property owned by Traynor in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

Second Netherlands arrest and incarceration

On or around 22 August 2010, in a joint operation with the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Regiokorpsen (Dutch regional police) arrested Traynor in

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands with a population of 92.353 as of 2022. It is a suburban part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the historical villages o ...

. After extradition, Traynor served the remainder of his sentence in medium security Highpoint Prison, where, after several heart attacks, he had to undergo a triple bypass. Traynor was released in September 2012 and was residing in a seaside town in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, as of 2013.

Later life and death

Traynor later moved to

, England where he received palliative care in a hospice after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died on the 24th of October 2021, at the age of 73.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traynor, John 1948 births 2021 deaths Criminals from Dublin (city) deaths from cancer in England Irish brothel owners and madams Irish crime bosses Irish drug traffickers Irish fraudsters Irish murderers Irish people in the sex industry Prostitution in the Republic of Ireland