John Traynor (criminal)

Career

Traynor is suspected of being a central and important figure in the Dublin gangland, and had associations with the Irish National Liberation Army.

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, Blessington, County Wicklow, detectives believed that the paintings were stored for a period at Arbour Hill.

Transferring his alligence 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. Jailed for seven years at Highpoint Prison in Suffolk, Traynor was granted compassionate leave to visit his wife and children in Templeogue, but never returned. Authorities in the UK eventually issued an international arrest warrant against Traynor.

Veronica Guerin

Having returned to Gilligan's gang in Dublin, and building up his prostitution business based from a massage parlour in Dublin, Traynor became a confidential source for journalist Veronica 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.

Detectives from the Garda believe that Traynor was involved in planning her murder. Gardaí believe that Traynor tipped off John Gilligan about her whereabouts on the day she was murdered in 1996. According to later testimony by Gilligan, Traynor ordered the murder of Guerin without his knowledge or permission.

First Netherlands arrest

Traynor fled Ireland after Guerin was killed, initially to Portugal, and has never officially returned. He has since moved across Europe, mainly between Spain and the Netherlands.

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. Second in command to Gilligan, the gang had operations from organising armed robberies to drug smuggling, embezzlement and prostitution. The Criminal Assets Bureau was later successful in the High Court, when a judgment mortgage was registered on the Arbour Hill shop, and seizure of a significant portion of the disposal of a property owned by Traynor in Waterford.

Second Netherlands arrest and incarceration

On or near 22 August 2010, in a joint operation with the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Regiokorpsen (Dutch regional police) arrested Traynor in Amstelveen. 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 as of 2013.