How Christy Mangan cracked the cases

Book signing event in Dunshaughlin on Saturday

In 2017, Christy Mangan became chief superintendent of An Garda Síochána’s Louth division, having served a brief period in neighbouring Cavan-Monaghan.

His headquarters were based in Drogheda, and the Dunshaughlin native thought he was moving to a relatively calm, quiet place, a proud town which was a seat of military, civil and ecclesiastical importance for thousands of years.

He soon realised this was not the case, so much so that in his new book, ‘Cracking the Case’, the now retired policeman describes it as ‘a town on the brink of destruction’.

"I didn’t realise the extent of the drugs problem and the related intimidation that was going on in the town at the time," he says, in advance of the book’s launch in Dunshaughlin this coming weekend.

"I knew the history of the division, particularly around Dundalk, where the investigation into the murder of Garda Adrian Donohoe was ongoing. I expected to be doing a lot of work in relation to that. And it is a border county, and having worked in Cavan Monaghan previously, I understood and had a good take on those issues."

He began to look around Drogheda when he arrived, and at an early stage realised there was a huge drugs problem.

"I went out on the beat a few times to get a take on it and get a feel for the locality. People would approach you and tell you they weren’t happy with the situation, or they would write in or email about what was going on. And you have to take note of what the people are saying."

Mangan quickly realise that the town was in the grip of two drugs gangs who were set against each other in a war for the control of the local drugs supply trade.

"They were warring, attacking houses, petrol bombing and burning them, attacking each other with knives. Then, they started shooting each other, and people were getting killed."

It was a battle for control of the illegal drugs supply from the Dublin border right along the east coast up to the border with the North of Ireland.

"We had to start a fairly robust operation, which we weren’t able to do on our own, as we hadn’t enough resources," Mangan explains. "One night, we ran out of guards to protect the scenes of crimes, there were so many crimes after taking place, which I had never seen before.

"We were struggling because of a lack of numbers, a lack of finance. We had to seek extra resources. It was a struggle to get them, we didn’t get them overnight. But eventually when we did get sufficient resources to implement our plan. I have to pay tribute to the people of Drogheda and the local politicians, they all came on board to provide huge support, with public representatives writing to the minister for justice."

The gardai began by setting up different arrests and targeting people who were making pipe bombs, petrol bombs, and those involved in drugs, taking them down slowly but surely, and they started getting jailed.

"Then a number of the more senior players left to go to the UK, Turkey and Spain, as things were beginning to get too hot for them in Drogheda," Mangan says.

"It took the guts of three years to get a hold on it, which is a long time for people to be waiting for the guards to do something, but it can be a slow process. The Adrian Donohoe trial was going on as well, and other significant crime investigations around Dundalk.”

Mangan compares it to a pressure cooker situation, where you are trying to lock it and make sure it doesn’t explode, and then slowly calm it all down and try bring some control and normality to it."

There were four murders connected with the dispute in Drogheda, including that of Willie Maughan and his partner, Anastasija Varslavane, in 2015. Willie’s father, Joe, joined a protest at the Bridge of Peace, which in Christy Mangan’s view, was very significant.

"I was delighted to see him there. Joe is a man who had suffered terrible tragedy, and he takes his time to come and stand beside me, marched up beside me and shook my hand. And we spoke for a good period of time about his troubles and I thought it was remarkable that he would do it."

Some 5,000 people turned out at that protest against the drug lords at the Bridge of Peace, and Mangan is extremely grateful for the support of the people of Louth and Drogheda.

"They said ‘we are not putting up with this any more with this anymore, and we are here to support the local police. Something like that gives you massive energy again, and you say right, the people are here, they want action here. And it is a matter of using fore against force, it is not pretty when you are dealing with criminals, and they are violent, so you have to have the ability to take them down, within legal parameters."

The barbaric murder of teenager Keane Mulready-Woods, whose body was dismembered, was designed to terrify people with the shock and awe message ‘you could be next’.

"They didn’t realise the reaction it would get nationally and internationally," he says. Mangan’s decision to highlight that the victim was a child who had been murdered and dismembered and his body parts hidden all around Dublin struck a chord with people.

"The murder had its desired affect for a while, until we got our investigation running in tandem with the Dublin units as well as the national units. We made a lot of progress in a short space of time, and were able to identify the suspects and a number were charged and convicted.

"It was tough for the people of Drogheda, it was a symbolic change for people, even the criminals themselves were shocked by it, it was a bridge too far."

An unusual calmness then set in he says, as people began to take stock of their situation.

"We continued to take them on, take down the leaders, the resources, seized a lot of money, drugs, pipe bombs, and it sucked the air and the energy out of them. There are a number of people serving significant terms of imprisonment, a number of people on the run, a number of people who will never come back, and all mixed together that brings a certain calmness, but it is something that needs to be continuously monitored, as you just can’t say it’s over."

He says that thankfully, there was a huge investment in the guards, and the Government is starting to invest in the town, but there needs to be more foresight so that when a town or village starts struggling that somebody at a government level is alerted to this and sees this is going to be a pressure point in two years’ time, and that it could get out of control if not dealt with quickly.

Christy Mangan, a son of Clare and the late Oliver Mangan, entered the gates of the Garda Training College in Templemore as a 20-year-old in 1982, beginning a career that would last for 40 years and would see him involved in some of the most high profile cases of that period.

"There is no off duty", he says in the introduction to his book. "Even in social situations, you are sought out to resolve matters, and everything you say or do is judged as a garda."

His first posting was to Sundrive Road in Crumlin, Dublin, where he was awarded a bronze Scott Medal for an act of personal bravery, when he and Garda Mick Minogue stopped a stolen car involved in armed robbery on Christmas Eve 1986.

He was to become one of only 12 members of the force to receive a second Scott Medal a decade later, after apprehending armed robbers who had carried out a raid on a building society in Crumlin.

In 1996, he joined the newly formed Garda National Drugs Unit, dealing with international and national drug trafficking. In 2003, he took up a post as Detective Inspector in the U District, which encompasses the Mountjoy and Fitzgibbon Street Districts.

During his time there, he investigated 16 deaths in a three-year period, including another barbaric killing, that of Farah Swaleh Noor, at the hands of Linda and Charlotte Mulhall, dubbed the ‘scissors sisters’ by the media during their trial. It was Mangan’s building up of a relationship with Linda Mulhall and her father, John, that led to her confession. In 2007, he set up the Serious Crime Review, investigating historic cold cases, including that of Fr Niall Molloy at the home of Richard and Therese Flynn in Clara, Co Offaly in July 1985.

‘Cracking the Case’ includes an analysis of why mishandling the case led to so many conspiracy theories, and Mangan outlines his thoughts on what happened that fateful night.

The underlying theme of Mangan’s work, which he explains in his opening chapter, is having a victim’s family to the forefront of an investigation, with the focus always on giving them answers.

Christy Mangan on .....

The cocaine epidemic

The biggest problem in Drogheda and all across the country is cocaine use. Three years ago, in the national media, I said we had a cocaine epidemic in this country. And I got no phone calls from anybody to say that we hadn’t. Which surprised me in one way, but maybe not in another.

It is so readily available, and the supply very plentiful, you never hear there is a shortage of it. And while from Monday to Friday it is those with heavy addictions that are using, the weekend provides the cream for the drug dealers - the middle class, the sports stars taking it in clubs and pubs, it’s relentless.

The street crime issue

Ultimately when somebody commits a violent act on the street, there is only one deterrent, is having a very string visible police presence on the street.

But the retirement age is 60, and retention is difficult, and you have to look at the reasons behind that. Look at sending young people to Templemore from all over the country, for €184 a week. They may have a mortgage, maybe be in a relationship, have a family. And they are expected to go there on €184 a week.

The somebody from Cork, Limerick, Donegal, is transferred to Dublin, and their family is living at home. Are they going to be able to get accommodation, live on small money, and their family elsewhere? Unless something is done on paying the young people coming up, they are going to get far more money in all the other jobs.

Morale in the force

Using a sporting analogy – if a team is going out with their heads down, in bad form, and you are expecting them to play well, and you are not a great coach, they are going to get their rear handed to them in the game. And it is the same in the guards, unless the guards are going out there, and they know that their managers – their supers, their sergeants, their inspectors, their chiefs, and their commissioner is going to back them, then you will have a more confident police force.

But since I left, I have been contacted by a number of guards who are the subject of discipline and are in difficulty and they are looking for advice, and morale is on the ground with them. They feel left abandoned with nobody to talk to. They feel they are going to lose their mortgages, their families, and it’s so slow in dealing with some of the cases. It needs to be looked at urgently.

Book signing

Published by Penguin’s Sandycove imprint, a local launch and signing of ‘Cracking the Case’ will take place on Saturday next, 5th August, at 3pm, in Dunshaughlin Community Centre, where Christy Mangan will be interviewed and will sign copies afterwards.