Brendan Maguire: Drogheda gang figure and CAB target facing extradition from UK

The senior Drogheda gang boss appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court this week where he said he would be looking for bail ahead of a full hearing of the case.

Maguire has been living in the UK after he survived being shot in an attempted murder in February 2019 near his Co Louth home.

He has outstanding warrants for his arrest in Ireland in connection with a violent disorder charge, possession of weapons and other charges.

He is considered a senior member of the gang headed up by his brother Owen Maguire and now-deceased gangster Cornelius Price.

In a brief appearance by video link from Wandsworth Prison, Maguire explained that he had been unable to obtain a solicitor.

“I’m trying to dance. My bank card is in the prison and I can’t get my bank card to get a solicitor to get free legal aid. That’s what I’m trying for, for dance,” he said.

Asked if he had any family he could contact, Maguire said he had been in touch with his wife who was “trying to get the bank details out of the bank, but you know yourself when it comes to banks, they take their own time.

He added: “I have my bank card in the prison I’m trying to get it but everything in here is ‘tomorrow’ and it never happens.

“That’s why I have no solicitor. “I’m trying to get a solicitor.”

Maguire was told he had made one bail application and that he was entitled to a second application before his full hearing later this year.

It was added that he could make a second bail application by himself or could wait until he had sorted out a solicitor.

“You’ve only got one more opportunity. What do you want to do?” he was asked.

Maguire told the magistrate he’d “rather wait” until he had a solicitor, who agreed to add the case to a later date.

“If you have a solicitor by that point you can make a bail application,” he was told.

Dressed in a gray T-shirt and tracksuit bottoms, he thanked the judge as he stood up and left the video room in Wandsworth Prison.

No details were given as to the exact nature of the charges against him during the court hearing. It emerged during the recent CAB case against Maguire and his brother Owen that he had been living in Manchester where officers were able to have legal papers served on him.

His brother Owen was left permanently disabled after also surviving a shooting incident by gangland hitman Robbie Lawlor in July 2018.

Brendan Maguire reportedly traveled back to Ireland briefly for a family celebration last year and appeared in photos posted on social media.

He was also spotted at the lavish funeral of gangster Cornelius Price in January 2023 in Rochdale.

Price, who died of natural causes after being in a coma for several months, was also a key figure in the lethal Drogheda feud.

The involvement of Price and the Maguire brothers in drug dealing in the north-east of Ireland was laid out in evidence presented to the High Court by the Criminal Assets Bureau.

Brendan Maguire was described in the evidence as “a person of significant strength and is the person who collects the money owed for drugs or uses intimidation when required.”

In January 2023, Judge Alexander Owens found in favor of CAB, who wanted two properties, two vehicles, a Rolex watch and €305,000 in cash belonging to both Brendan and Owen declared the proceeds of crime.

In making the order Judge Owens said they had very little in regular income over a long period of time and the sworn affidavits by gardai were ‘well-founded’.

“The overall situation points very strongly to the proceeds of crime,” he said.

Members of the Maguire/Price organized criminal gang are believed to be behind the murders of William Maughan and Anna Varslavane who disappeared in 2015.

The previous year, Benjamin Whitehouse was shot dead in his car in Balbriggan in a killing suspected to have been carried out by members of the gang.

The gang was also involved in the lethal gangland feud in Drogheda with members believed to have carried out the killing of Keith Branigan in August 2019.

He was shot dead at a Clogherhead caravan park.