Peter ‘Peadar’ Keating appears in court of foot of UK extradition warrant
Fiona Magennis
One-time senior Kinahan Cartel member Peter ‘Peadar’ Keating has appeared before the High Court in Dublin on foot of an extradition warrant from the UK, where he is wanted to serve a sentence for amassing an arsenal of firearms in a failed plot to secure a reduced jail term for Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh.
Keating (45) was sentenced at the Old Bailey in December 2024 to four years and eight months imprisonment for his role in the botched scheme to gather guns and ammunition in a bid to get a lower term of imprisonment for Kavanagh.
At the time, it was reported that Keating was to serve his sentence in Ireland alongside an 11-year jail term he was already serving for his role in the attempted murder of a rival Hutch gang member.
The warrant issued for Keating’s arrest in November 2022 stated that a weapons arsenal had been amassed by Keating and others - who sourced the firearms from the Netherlands, as part of a plot to hand them over to UK authorities in a bid to demonstrate Kavanagh's co-operation and help him receive a lesser sentence.
Kavanagh, a senior Kinahan cartel drug trafficker who is aged in his 50s, was jailed in England in March 2022 for 21 years for importing cocaine and cannabis worth more than £30 million (€35 million) into the UK.
Kavanagh, who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, was described by the UK's National Crime Agency as the "top man" in the UK for the Kinahan organised crime group.
At the time he was sentenced at the Old Bailey in December 2024, Peter Keating was already serving an 11-year jail term imposed by the Special Criminal Court in September 2021 for directing the attempted assassination of rival Hutch gang member James 'Mago' Gately.
Keating, formerly of Rowlagh Green, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, had pleaded guilty to directing the activities of a criminal organisation between December 7th, 2016 and April 6th, 2017, within and outside the State.
This involved the "ongoing targeting" of Gately in the context of a feud between the Hutch and Kinahan crime groups.
Keating was brought before a sitting of the High Court in Dublin on Friday on foot of a Trade and Cooperation Agreement warrant seeking to extradite him to the UK.
Keith Spencer, for Keating, instructed by solicitor Wayne Kenny, said there were "significant issues” involved in the case and applied for legal aid to cover a senior counsel.
The application was granted by Judge Sean Gillane, who adjourned the matter to July 8th.
