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 journalis ...

Veronica Guerin.RTÉ Newssite abou
arrest of Traynor
in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

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 (INLA). He initially worked with Martin Cahill's gang and eventually owned a derelict shop building that Cahill formerly owned in Arbour Hill. During the Garda Síochána investigation into Cahill's 1986 theft of the Beit-collection paintings from

Russborough House Russborough House is a stately house near the Blessington Lakes in County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland. Located between the towns of Blessington and Ballymore Eustace, it is an outstanding example of Palladian architecture, designed by Richard ...

Blessington Blessington, historically known as Ballycomeen (, from the Irish surname ''Ó Coimín''), is a town on the River Liffey in County Wicklow, Ireland, near the border with County Kildare. It is around 25 km south-west of Dublin, and is sit ...

, County Wicklow, 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 A bearer bond is a bond or debt security issued by a business entity such as a corporation or a government. As a bearer instrument, it differs from the more common types of investment securities in that it is unregistered—no records are kept ...

stolen in the City bonds robbery. Jailed for seven years at HM Prison Highpoint North in Suffolk, Traynor was granted compassionate leave to visit his wife and children in

Templeogue Templeogue () is a southwestern suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It lies between the River Poddle and River Dodder, and is about halfway from Dublin's centre to the mountains to the south. Geography Location The centre of Templeogue is from b ...

, 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 1894 ...

. 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

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, mainly between

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and the

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. 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 and prostitution. The

Criminal Assets Bureau The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) ( ga, An Biúró um Shócmhainní Coiriúla) is a law enforcement agency in Ireland. The CAB was established with powers to focus on the illegally acquired assets of criminals involved in serious crime. The aims ...

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

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Second Netherlands arrest and incarceration

On or around 22 August 2010, in a joint operation with the UK's

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, 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 ...

. 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