Rape charge against man staying in asylum hotel 'was kept secret to avoid stirring up community tensions'
Council chiefs have been accused of hushing up a rape charge against the inhabitant of an asylum hotel in order to avoid inflaming 'community tension'.
The man was reportedly charged with rape and voyeurism following an attack on a woman on June 11, The Sun reported.
He is believed to have been living at the Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea, which has functioned as an asylum hotel.
However, the man appeared in front of Portsmouth magistrates' on June 16 and he was remanded in custody - so he is no longer living in the hotel.
But there are now allegations that members of Portsmouth City Council sought to keep the nature of charged man's accommodation secret in order to avoid community unrest.
Portsmouth City Council members were reportedly briefed in private about the charges against the man.
However, it has been claimed that councillors were warned not to mention that the suspect lived in an asylum hotel.
It was also reported that Portsmouth Independents Party leader Cllr George Madgwick was urged not to share 'privileged confidential information'.
A young girl waves to security officers as a group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on June 20
Councillor Madgwick said: 'This is precisely why the public don't trust politicians and public bodies: things are hidden that should be disclosed.
Anyone involved in any form of cover-up from disclosure to the public should question their role in a publicly funded position.'
There are also two other cases in England, one in Manchester and one in London, in which the fact that suspects lived in asylum hotels was not disclosed.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick called the small-boat crossings 'a national security emergency'.
'Women in towns with asylum hotels shouldn't have to live in fear. The authorities must trust the public with the truth and act to protect them,' he said.
A government spokesperson said: 'Sexual violence of all types is a despicable crime, causing the most unimaginable harm to victims and survivors.
'We recognise the immense bravery shown by them throughout their pursuit of justice, and protecting them remains central to our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
'We have already taken action to ban foreign nationals who commit sexual offences from being granted asylum, and will do everything in our power to pursue deportation from the UK so that these vile criminals are off our streets and paying the price for their crimes.'
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Kinahan godfather Christy 'The Dapper Don' Kinahan Snr grew up in a middle-class family and law enforcement first became aware of him around the time he started working with Hutch Family Godfather Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch's older brother Eddie, reportedly robbing delivery vans and warehouses. While The Dapper Don built up his empire smuggling heroin into Ireland in the 80s, The Monk is suspected of making millions by teaming up with the Provisional IRA to pull off some of the biggest bank heists in Ireland's history. The Dapper Don's son Daniel 'Chess' Kinahan was famously friends with The Monk's nephew Gary Hutch. But that all changed in 2015 when Gary Hutch was wrongly suspected of being an informant for the Spanish police and was executed. What followed was a fierce gangland feud still raging to this day with 18 people killed in 10 years of bloodshed. Below, MailOnline looks at the women behind the kingpins wreaking havoc, making millions and often evading justice in a deadly fight for control of Ireland's drug trade. Daniel 'Chess' Kinahan, Christy 'The Dapper Don' Kinahan Snr and Christopher 'Mano' Jnr are all wanted, with US rewards totalling $15million Patricia Fowler Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch's wife has never been pictured - until today. Keeping a low profile, Patricia Fowler, who has been married to Hutch Family godfather, 63, for 38 years, has managed to avoid the press and only previously appeared with her face blurred out in gardai arrest footage. There is no suggestion Patricia is involved in crime herself. But she has been close to the heart of the Irish mob for decades through her association with her husband. Patricia grew up around the corner from Hutch and the pair started dating when they were teenagers. They were still teens when they had their first child together and have five children in total. None of their children are involved in criminality. The Monk married Patricia in March 1987, when he was 24 years old. They lived together on Buckingham Street in Dublin's north inner city before moving elsewhere. 'The Monk' earned his nickname because he abstained from booze, drugs and smoking and in part due to his hairstyle when he was younger. While his family are known to have been linked to the Hutch-Kinahan feud, the majority of casualties have been on the Hutch side. While it is commonly referred to as a feud, many see it as the dismantling of the Hutches by way of execution-style mafia hits. The most well known was the machine gun murder of David Byrne in 2016 at he Regency Hotel in Dublin, a hit that sparked the most deadly year of the feud to date. Six attackers, including a man disguised as a woman and two others dressed as police officers armed with AK-47s, stormed the four-star hotel, which has since been renamed as the Bonnington, and shot Kinahan gangster Byrne. It is believed the main target was suspected Kinahan Cartel boss Daniel Kinahan, who had left moments earlier. In August 2021, Patricia was having dinner with Hutch in a restaurant in Fuengirola on the Costa Del Sol - where two Scottish gang members were shot dead last month - when Spanish police arrested him in connection with the murder of David Byrne, for which he was later found not guilty. These days, although the Hutches are still a major crime group facing investigations in Dublin, they have not reached the heights of criminality that the Kinahans have. At the time of the photograph, Patricia's husband was hiding out in Europe as the Kinahans reportedly had a €500k (£420k) hit out on him. Caoimhe Robinson Caoimhe Robinson married suspected Kinahan mobster Daniel 'Chess' Kinahan, 47, in a glitzy ceremony at the £1,000-a-night Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai in 2017. It is thought members of the feared Lyons mob who are part of a four-way gang war in Scotland attended the wedding. 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Vinnie Ryan from the Real IRA was charged with possession of an AK-47 believed to be connected with The Panda's murder and he was later shot dead — supposedly on orders from the Kinahans. Caoimhe has sold and let millions of pounds worth of property in Dubai despite international sanctions freezing her husband's assets. This allegedly includes a mansion that was rented out for £20,000-a-year before being sold for £4.3million, and a luxury villa with a swimming pool and a terrace overlooking a golf course that was sold last May for nearly £10million. Months before she started selling her properties, the US unveiled sanctions against seven senior figures in the Kinahan cartel and a $5million (£4million) bounty for the arrest of Daniel, his father 'The Dapper Don', and brother Christopher Jr. Caoimhe is not the target of any sanctions or arrest warrants and - unlike other members of the Kinahan family - is not a fugitive. The Dapper Don remains the godfather but is thought to have handed the reins over to his two sons, Caoimhe's husband Daniel and Christopher 'Mano' Kinahan Jr. They have their fingers in many pies, from drug smuggling to extortion, money laundering, arms smuggling and property development. They have allegedly sold products to Iran and Hezbollah's intelligence services and the Mexican cartels. The Kinahans are thought to have €1.5billion (£1.2billion) hidden in offshore accounts around the world. Joanne Byrne Joanne Byrne, 51, is married to Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh, the jailed boss of the Kinahans' UK operation. She is also the daughter of infamous Irish mob boss James 'Jaws' Byrne, who was friends with Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch until the murder of his son David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016. Little is known about Joanne and she is rarely pictured. She was born in November 1973 to parents James 'Jaws' Byrne and Sadie Byrne, and has five siblings. Jaws, who passed away aged 76 last year, was an armed robber with links to crime boss Martin 'The General' Cahill. Cahill was killed in 1994 when a gunman, allegedly from the Provisional IRA, shot him multiple times in the face and upper torso. She faces a battle over £500,000 worth of luxury goods seized from her and Kavanagh's home by the National Crime Agency Jaws lived in Dublin's Raleigh Square, a cul de sac that became the Byrne Organised Crime Group's stronghold, with Joanne's gangster brothers Liam and David both living down the road as well as senior member Sean 'Lugs' McGovern. In 2018, the Irish High Court found that jaws, his wife Sadie, daughter Maria and three others 'while not members of the Byrne organised crime group, are closely related to its members and involved in money laundering'... and 'have access to the proceeds of criminal activity carried out by the Byrne organised crime group.' Joanne's brother David, 33, was a Kinahan gangster before he was murdered while her other brother is jailed Kinahan criminal Liam Byrne, 44. She is also the cousin of convicted Kinahan murderer 'Fat Freddie' Thompson, 44. Joanne is thought to be still living in her and 'Bomber's' £1million Staffordshire 'luxury fortified mansion' set with bulletproof glass and reinforced doors that police raided in 2019. During that bust, they seized £500,000 of luxury gear including 120 designer handbags, 120 sets of designer heels, 36 pairs of Armani jeans and £40,000 of cash that was stuffed down the back of a sofa - as well as a slew of weapons. There were drawers full of expensive watches and jewellery and an astonishing weapons haul that included a stun gun, zombie knives, an axe and samurai style sword was also found. The police seized all the items and prosecutors are also fighting to seize the house itself. While there is no suggestion she was involved in or knew about her husband's criminal activities, Joanne faces losing her collection of designer clothes and accessories as well as her and Bomber's plush gated pad in an assets battle with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). In 2022 Bomber was sentenced to 21 years in HMP Belmarsh for conspiring to import £36million of drugs into the UK. Last year he was sentenced to a further six years for trying to dupe law enforcement authorities by leading them to a cache of guns in a bid for a reduced sentence. Simoan McEnroe Simoan McEnroe, 43, is married to Kinahan Cartel mob boss Liam Byrne, 44, who is understood to be one of the most trusted members outside of the immediate family. Social media posts show her luxury lifestyle from partying in Ibiza to splurging on a lavish party for her youngest son's confirmation. Along with her close mates Anita Freeman and Kelly Quinn, the partner of her murdered brother-in-law David Byrne, Simoan McEnroe has been named by CAB in proceedings against the Byrne Organised Crime Group, an offshoot of the Kinahan Cartel. The CAB has seized multiple properties linked to Byrne, including his €1million (£854,000) Dublin mansion beset with chandeliers, hot tubs, games rooms, bars and a high-end security system. When that home was raided in 2016, cops had to use specialist equipment to cut through the reinforced doors. The CAB has seized almost 50 assets totalling close to €2million (£1.7million) from the Byrne Organised Crime Group. Simoan has been married to Liam Byrne for 27 years and have three children aged nine, 14 and 24. There is no suggestion she or her children are involved in crime themselves. Their eldest, Lee Byrne, is engaged to and having a baby with ex-England and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard's daughter Lilly. Neither he nor Lilly are thought to involved in crime themselves. Along with his brother-in-law Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh, Liam Byrne helped run the Kinahans' UK operation and was jailed for five years in 2024 for his part in a submachine gun haul plot cracked open using decrypted EncroChat messages. During the trial, he claimed to be a car salesman and a 'spray painter by trade'. Despite this, his and Simoan's home is in a gated community in a luxury part of Merseyside. Simoan speaks on the phone while holding a gold clutch purse with a handbag over her shoulder In January this year, Byrne was let out of prison with an electronic tag as part of the Prime Minister's controversial Early Release Scheme to ease overcrowding in prisons, sources said. It came three months after he was sentenced to five years in jail for his part in a submachine gun haul plot - although he had already served 192 days in a Spanish jail, which were taken off his final sentence. At the time of his release, sources told MailOnline his neighbours were 'terrified' his release could lead to violence on their street, pointing out that in 2023, criminals targeted an address on the estate where the Byrne family live, setting fire to the front of the property. Anita Freeman Anita Freeman is the longterm girlfriend of Sean 'Lugs' McGovern, a close friend of the Byrnes and a suspected top tier Kinahan Cartel associate. They met as teenagers and now have two children together. For years, she has lived out in Dubai, brushing shoulders with some of the most wanted men on the planet. But although her pals include suspected Kinahan Cartel kingpin Daniel 'Chess' Kinahan's moll Caoimhe Robinson, her own boyfriend is in a spot of bother, to put it lightly. For years he and other senior members of the Cartel, also known as the Kinahan Organised Crime Group (KOCG) have enjoyed a life of luxury in their Dubai boltholes, seemingly safe from extradition. But after almost a decade trying, Irish police were finally able extradite him from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on May 29, 2025, and charged him with five offences including the 2016 murder of Gerry Hutch's friend, 62-year-old grandfather Noel 'Duck Egg' Kirwan. There is no suggestion Anita is is involved in crime herself. For Freeman, who hails from the south Dublin neighbourhood of Crumlin, it could mean her friends in Dubai move to another jurisdiction they feel is safer from extradition. She has already seen her shared home with Lugs in Crumlin seized by the CAB in 2019 after the Irish High Court deemed it was bought and renovated using the proceeds of crime. It was later sold to Dublin City Council. Anita has been Lugs's girlfriend since the pair were teenagers growing up in South Dublin — McGovern lived in Drimnagh, the nextdoor neighbourhood to Anita Freeman's Crumlin. Lugs was shot once during the 2016 Regency Hotel attack that killed Kinahan Cartel enforcer David Byrne. In 2017, he and Anita moved to Dubai under the threat of growing Gardaí power. Left to right: Liam Byrne with wife Simon McEnroe and Anita Freeman with her partner Sean 'Lugs' McGovern Lugs is thought to be on a 23-hour lockdown in Ireland's only maximum-security jail, Portlaoise Prison Although she has intermittently returned to Ireland, Lugs had avoided doing so for fear of arrest, meaning even that he missed his father's funeral in 2022. It is understood that despite her partner's arrest, Anita has remained in Dubai with the rest of the Kinahan Cartel. Lugs is thought to be on a 23-hour lockdown in Ireland's only maximum-security jail, Portlaoise Prison. As well the murder charge, he was charged with directing the activities of a criminal organisation in relation to Mr Kirwan's murder from October 20 and December 22, 2016 and enhancing the abilities of a crime gang to carry out the same murder. He was also charged with directing a crime gang to carry out surveillance on Hutch associate James 'Mago' Gately and facilitating a criminal organisation in connection with a conspiracy to murder Gately between October 17 2015, and April 6, 2017. McGovern has not yet issued a plea in relation to the charges. Kelly Quinn Tragically, Kelly Quinn will always be remembered as the girlfriend of slain gangster David Byrne, 36, who was machine-gunned to death during the Regency Hotel attack in 2016 as part of the Hutch-Kinahan feud. Kelly has two children with David Byrne, who she claimed was in the 'wrong place at the wrong time' and had 'nothing to do with any of that feud,' adding that he was 'never involved'. In reality, David Byrne was a known and feared Kinahan Cartel enforcer tasked with intimidating people who owed the gang money for drugs. He was never convicted of a serious crime but since he was a teenager, he was investigated by every specialist garda unit battling organised crime. Tragically, Kelly Quinn will always be remembered as the girlfriend of slain gangster David Byrne Kelly has two children with David Byrne (pictured, Byrne and his children), who she claimed was in the 'wrong place at the wrong time' and had 'nothing to do with any of that feud,' adding that he was 'never involved' He was also questioned but not charged over the murder of mercenary hitman Gary Bryan, who was shot six times in the head in front of his girlfriend while he was fixing a car in 2006. When he was dead, the killer shot several more rounds into his limp body. No one has ever been found guilty of his murder. His death, alleged to have been carried out by the Hutch Family, sparked a series of revenge killings. After David Byrne's death, a further nine people were killed in 2016: Eddie Hutch Snr; Vinnie Ryan; Noel 'Kingsize' Duggan; Martin O'Rourke; Michael Barr; Gareth Hutch; David Douglas; Trevor O'Neill; and Noel 'Duck Egg' Kirwan. Of the men killed as part of the feud that year, only David Byrne was from the Kinahan side. Photos of Kelly taken after David's death also showed her dressed in a leopard print top, black leggings and white Adidas trainers while smoking a cigarette and getting into a cream coloured Mini Cooper with black stripes on the bonnet Kelly Quinn flicked the cigarette to the ground before getting inside the Mini Cooper What's next for the Kinahans? The big question on everyone including the molls' lips now is will this all fall apart? Ireland's High Court has been declaring many of their assets as the proceeds of crime and the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has been seizing them on those grounds. And this year after almost a decade of negotiations, Irish police, An Garda Síochána (also referred to as the Gardaí) extradited top Kinahan gangster Sean 'Lugs' McGovern from Dubai this year in what they view will be a test case for extraditing and arresting other senior members of the Cartel. Dr Philip Berry is a former counter-narcotics official at the Home Office who worked for the Afghanistan Serious and Organised Crime team. He is now a consultant focusing on the international drug trade and a visiting senior lecturer at KCL. He told MailOnline: 'Given the profits generated by the cocaine business, it seems likely that the Kinahan organised crime group will remain in the industry as long as they continue to evade the authorities.' 'The Kinahans have also been involved in trafficking other drugs, including heroin and cannabis, and have participated in other criminal activities. 'Continued law enforcement operations against the Kinahan organisation, Sean McGovern's extradition, and the cooperative relationship between the Irish and UAE authorities means Dubai may not be as safe a haven as the Kinahan organisation once thought.' But despite the threat of losing their fast cars and fancy homes, many of the gangsters' molls are seemingly still living a life of wealth, bathing in the riches of crime and violence. Six were or had links to the Hutch Family, two were innocent people killed in suspected cases of mistaken identity and one, Vinnie Ryan, was thought to have been killed by the Kinahans although whether he was associated with the Hutches is disputed. Kelly had known other molls connected to the Kinahan Cartel for years and is believed to have kept in touch with them. There is no suggestion Kelly is is involved in crime herself. In an undated photo, she was pictured smiling next to Liam Byrne's moll Simoan McEnroe and Sean 'Lugs' McGovern's moll Anita Freeman. Photos of Kelly taken after David's death also showed her dressed in a leopard print top, black leggings and white Adidas trainers while smoking a cigarette and getting into a cream coloured Mini Cooper with black stripes on the bonnet. MailOnline understands she is also close to her nephew Lee Byrne's fiancée Lilly Gerrard, who are also not criminals themselves. Charlene Lam Beautician Charlene Lam, 37, is the partner of top Hutch Family gangster James 'Mago' Gately, 38, who has survived multiple attempts on his life by the Kinahans and has been shot at least six times. There is no suggestion Charlene is involved in crime herself. Her beauty firm Bombshell Beauty in Dublin's north inner city has advertised treatments for up to €300 (£256). She offers everything from jaw and cheek filler for €250 each to PhiBrows - a semi-permanent cosmetic tattoo for sleeker-looking eyebrows for €300. Her salon on Summerhill Parade is above the Bridge Tavern pub, which was called the Sunset House in 2016 when republican Michael Barr was shot dead there, allegedly by the Kinahans, as part of the Hutch-Kinahan feud. The shop makes a little under €30,000 (£25,600) a year. Although Gately has never been convicted of serious crimes, a CAB officer alleged in a sworn affidavit that he 'is a leading and prominent member of the Hutch Organised Crime Gang involved in armed robberies and the importation of controlled drugs'. Beautician Charlene Lam, 37, (pictured) is the partner of top Hutch Family gangster James 'Mago' Gately, 38, who has survived multiple attempts on his life by the Kinahans and has been shot at least six times There is no suggestion Charlene is involved in crime herself. Her beauty firm Bombshell Beauty in Dublin's north inner city has advertised treatments for up to €300 (£256) Charlene holds her phone as she walks in grey trainers, dark green joggers and a pink sweater James 'Mago' Gately with his girlfriend Charlene Lam leaving Northside Shopping Centre in Coolock, Dublin He has been allegedly linked to three murders by CAB although has never been charged with murder. The CAB said the couple had been on a series of 'eye-watering' holidays to Korea, China, Japan, Barcelona and Lisbon. In June last year, her partner Mago's luxury Coolock home was declared as being 'overwhelmingly' the proceeds of crime and was seized by the CAB. Charlene Lam in a pair of running shoes and designer leggings while holding what appears to be two vats of paint Gately and Charlene are now living on Portland Row at the heart of the Hutch Family's territory in the north inner city A ladies' rolex watch and a VW Golf were also taken. The couple have both denied their assets are the proceeds of crime. Gately and Charlene are now living on Portland Row at the heart of the Hutch Family's territory in the north inner city. Another notable resident of the same road is Gerry Hutch's sister.
Telegraph
an hour ago
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Starmer clamps down on Labour welfare rebels
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