Gang boss left with bullet lodged in his neck after assassination attempt

Details of Maguire’s injuries emerged at a bail hearing in the UK, where he is fighting an Irish extradition order on weapons and violent disorder charges.

He had been shot six times and narrowly escaped death in February 2019, just months after his brother Owen was shot and left permanently disabled.

Maguire has since been living in the Manchester area with his wife and three children and denies being a fugitive from Ireland.

His lawyer said he suffers from bi-polar disorder and PTSD following the murder attempt, has a bullet lodged in his lower neck and has nerve damage to his left side.

“Given the state of prisons at the moment, he is not perhaps receiving the care he would otherwise receive had he been on bail,” said the lawyer.

Opposing his application, a lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the offences in the extradition warrant date from 2018 and 2019.

It is alleged he was one of three men stopped in a vehicle where two pick-axe handles, a baseball bat and box cutter were all recovered.

All three stated it was for personal protection due to a criminal feud, the court was told.

The next alleged offence was violent disorder on August 7, 2019, in which he was one of three men accused of assaulting a man using a Stanley knife, causing wounds to the head and the body.

“The offending itself appears to be gang-related and there is potential for assistance in absconding.

“While he has no convictions in the UK, he has quite a few convictions in Ireland,” the CPS lawyer added.

It was further stated that the offences carry a maximum of five and ten years, which is a motive to evade justice.

Maguire’s solicitor argued that there isn’t an equivalent charge of the possession of offensive weapons and that he denies knowledge of them being in the car.

There are “ongoing issues with others in Ireland and his family” and he has suffered quite a traumatic injury himself.

He has received notices from the Irish authorities to say that he is at risk of danger to his own life.

“He is not a fugitive. Since 2019 he had not signed on as part of his bail conditions because he was in hospital.

“He attended court on crutches and the judge released him, acknowledging he had good reason for that.”

On a second occasion, in September 2019, the court was told, a bail variation was sought to allow him to take his family to Spain on holiday so he didn’t have to sign on at the police station.

But after that hearing the court was stormed by men who were intent on attacking him and he had to be ushered out the back door.

“He understands there were police bail conditions and court conditions had been varied to allow him to leave Ireland.”

“Because his life was in danger he didn’t return; because his life was at serious risk he didn’t return to Ireland.”

As far as he was concerned, he wasn’t under any bail conditions where he had to return to Ireland, the court was told.

He also denies that at any point he was charged with the offences contained in the warrant, it was added.

During the 20-minute hearing – in which Maguire appeared from the video room at Wandsworth Prison – he spoke initially to confirm his name and date of birth.

Maguire was asked by the judge if he was happy for the bail application to continue or to adjourn it to allow him to consult with his lawyer over the list of his previous convictions.

“Go ahead now,” he replied.

His lawyer said that Maguire is “a suitable candidate for bail” who will abide with any conditions, including a security of Stg£2,500, “quite a substantial sum of money” for a man of his means.

Maguire has no convictions in the UK, where he has been living since October 2019, has established ties in the Manchester area and has lived in the same rented house.

The judge was asked to consider the impact of his imprisonment on his wife, who also has health issues and three young children to look after.

The magistrate said he appreciated these are accusations and not convictions as well as the family circumstances and health issues that have been referred to.

“However, I can’t ignore the seriousness of the allegations you face. There may well be a custodial sentence passed if you are convicted.

“This is not a case that in my view where bail can be granted.”

A full hearing on Maguire’s extradition case will be heard at a later date.

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

His brother Owen Maguire was left permanently disabled after he survived an assassination attempt by gangland hitman Robbie Lawlor in July 2018.

Brendan reportedly travelled 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 Rochdale last January.

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 bare 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 that collects the money owed for drugs or uses intimidation when required”.

Members of the Maguire/Price Organised Criminal Gang are believed to be behind the murders of William Maughan and Ana 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.

They were also involved in the lethal gangland feud in Drogheda with members believed to have carried out the killing of Keith Branigan in August 2019 who was shot dead at a Clogherhead caravan park in Co. Louth.