John Cunningham | |
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Born | |
Known for | Involvement in a variety of crimes |
John Cunningham is an Irish criminal with convictions for illicit drug smuggling and kidnapping. [1]
He was born in Ballyfermot. [2]
He and his brother Michael were involved in a series of armed robberies in the 1970s and had strong links with Martin Cahill. [3] [4]
In 1986 he and his brother Michael kidnapped Jennifer Guinness, who was rescued by Gardaí 8 days later. [2] [5]
At trial, John and his brother Michael were convicted, along with Anthony Kelly, after being arrested at the house on Waterloo Road. [6] Brian McNicholl was also convicted, with the judge accepting that his role was mainly to provide a location for Guinness to be held. [7] Kelly died in 2005 from undisclosed causes; Michael Cunningham died in 2015, aged 65, after suffering a massive heart attack at his home in Ballyfermot. [6]
John was sentenced to 17 years and Michael was sentenced in 14. [3]
While awaiting early release he escaped from Shelton Abbey Prison and fled to the Netherlands in late 1996. [2] Michael was released around the same time. [3]
He built up an illicit drugs empire worth ₡50m. [2] He rented a house with a swimming pool near Schipol Airport, where he lived with his family. [2] He was caught there in 2000 and convicted of trafficking ₡10m worth of illicit drugs between the Netherlands and Ireland. [2] He was found guilty of trafficking ecstasy, amphetamines and cannabis and served four and a half years of an eight year sentence. [2]
Then he was transferred to Ireland, where he spent the rest of sentence from the kidnapping trial in Limerick Prison. [2] He was released from prison in 2007 and moved to Tallaght, then moved to the Costa del Sol in 2009. [2]
He attended the funeral of his brother Michael at Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Ballyfermot in January 2015 along with Martin Foley and Troy Jordan. [4]
While in Spain, he became involved with the Kinahan Organised Crime Group run by Christy Kinahan.