Cyril "Dublin Jimmy" McGuinness (1964/1965 - 8 November 2019) was an Irish convicted criminal with a record for

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

, illegal transport of waste and theft. He was 54 when he died.

Early life and family

He was originally from Cloughran in

Swords, County Dublin Swords ( or ) in County Dublin, the county town of the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government area of Fingal, is a large suburban town on the east coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, situated ten kilometres north of D ...

, Ireland. As a teenager he worked in scrap metal and was known to Gardaí by the time he was 20. His brother Francis was estranged from him. His brother is an articulated truck and car dealer. McGuinness' nephew is the politician Conor D. McGuinness, who was not aware he was related until a few years before Cyril McGuinness' death. Cyril McGuinness reportedly lived for a period in

Derrylin Derrylin ( or "Oakgrove of the blackbirds") is a village and townland in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is on the A509 road between Enniskillen and the border with County Cavan (the N3 road to Dublin). It had a population of 634 in t ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

Criminal history

He was banned from driving for 25 years in 1986 and jailed for six months after refusing to stop for Gardaí as they pursued his lorry through north

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

in 1984. After his conviction he was led from

Balbriggan Balbriggan (; , ) is a suburban coastal town in Fingal, in the northern part of County Dublin, Ireland. It is approximately 34 km north of the city of Dublin, for which it is a commuter town. The 2022 census population was 24,322 for Bal ...

courthouse while handcuffed to a Garda. He shouted "bastard" at a Garda sergeant who had testified against him and "violently spat" in the sergeants' face. Although he was described as a Republican, Gardaí believed that his real motivation was money and that he had no political beliefs. He did supply vehicles to the

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

and was heavily involved with paramilitaries in smuggling laundered fuel, alcohol and cigarettes, however. In 1986 he was also convicted of

perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...

after he asked another man to testify that McGuinness was a passenger - not the driver - in a lorry that was pursued by Gardaí in a separate chase. He was given a twelve-month suspended sentence for perjury. The Gardaí believed that in the 1980s he was seriously involved in handling stolen vehicles as well as smuggling them into Northern Ireland and Britain for resale. In 1992 he was arrested in

Dublin Airport Dublin Airport () is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinstown, north of Dublin, and south of the town of Swords. In 2024, over 34 ...

with four

forged Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compression (physics), compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die (manufacturing), die. Forging is often classif ...

£20 notes. It took Gardaí three days to discover his real identity because he used up to 12 false identities at the time. Because he was uncooperative with Gardaí and had so many aliases he was remanded in custody for a month before pleading guilty to the charges in court. At the time of this conviction he had at least three addresses in north County Dublin and one in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He managed to secure a number of waste disposal contracts from local authorities in his twenties despite having a criminal record. These contracts included those for the disposal of

hazardous waste Hazardous waste is waste that must be handled properly to avoid damaging human health or the environment. Waste can be hazardous because it is Toxicity, toxic, Chemical reaction, reacts violently with other chemicals, or is Corrosion, corrosive, ...

. He used those contracts to engage in

fly tipping Illegal dumping, also called fly dumping or fly tipping (British English, UK), is the dumping of waste illegally instead of using an authorised method such as Kerbside collection, curbside collection or using an authorised civic amenity site, ru ...

. Investigations by the Gardaí led to his moving first to

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of Border Region, Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town ...

, then to

. In 2004 the

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. BBC Northern Ireland is one of the four BB ...

current affairs programme Spotlight exposed him as being involved in the illegal transportation of waste. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to 22 charges related to illegally transporting waste from the Republic of Ireland through

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and received a suspended sentence. There were a series of thefts of ATMs in Ireland around 2009 in which he and his gang were suspects. Twenty trucks and cranes were stolen in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and brought to Ireland. McGuinness was arrested in a Dublin court when he appeared in relation to charges of theft of an ATM. A

European Arrest Warrant The European Arrest Warrant (EAW) is an arrest warrant valid throughout all member states of the European Union (EU). Once issued, it requires another member state to arrest and transfer a criminal suspect or sentenced person to the issuing stat ...

was issued for McGuinness in 2008 in which he was described as an active member of an Irish criminal organisation. In April 2008 he was stopped by Serbian police near the Croatian border. He was taken to Belgrade from where he was extradited to Bruges. While there, he was granted bail and left the country, though he was convicted when he was tried in absentia. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and was extradited back to Belgium in 2011 to serve his sentence.

Death

His death occurred after a police raid on his home in Fairfield, near

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

, Derbyshire in November 2019. He was being investigated about the

kidnapping of Kevin Lunney On 17 September 2019, Kevin Lunney, chief operating officer of Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH), was abducted from his home near Derrylin in the south of County Fermanagh, beaten, and left near Drumcoghill in County Cavan. Abduction On the 17 Sept ...

. The cause of death was reported to be a heart attack and the death is being investigated by the

Independent Office for Police Conduct The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales, responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales. It replaced the Independent ...

. The IOPC have verified that police were executing a warrant at his residence at the time he took ill, though they have said there was no evidence a taser was used.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuinness, Cyril 1960s births 2019 deaths 20th-century Irish criminals 21st-century Irish criminals Criminals from Dublin (city) Criminals from Northern Ireland Irish male criminals People from Buxton People from Derrylin People from Swords, County Dublin Place of birth missing Smugglers Year of birth uncertain