Dublin gangster Aymen Shebani gets permission for Majorca holiday as he awaits trial

The Donaghmede man, who leads a cross-border gang from his base in Newry, is currently out on bail as he awaits trial on firearms and drugs conspiracy charges related to the European-wide investigation into the Encrochat encrypted phone network which was used by criminals across the continent.

Shebani is also currently facing threat from associates of Colin ‘Collie’ McDonald, who was shot in the Newry earlier this year.

The feud between the two gangs led to an associate of Shebani being targeted in an horrific acid attack in May before an attempt was made to decapitate a man during a hatchet attack on two men days later.

Local sources in Newry say the PSNI have been regularly spotted watching Shebani and others involved in the feud as they try to quell any further attacks.

Shebani is now set to get some temporary respite from the feud after a judge granted him permission to travel to Majorca on holiday.

Despite prosecution objections that 39-year-old is a flight risk, Judge Gordon Kerr QC said having been on bail for two years without incident, “he is entitled to have a holiday”.

Read more: Dubliner Aymen Shebani to face trial for large scale distribution of cocaine

Read more: Alleged Dublin gangster Aymen Shebani ordered to stand trial over large scale cocaine distribution

The Newry Crown Court judge ordered that Shebani’s bail conditions be lifted from September 1-8 to allow him to fly to the Spanish island for a family holiday.

A prosecutor opposed the bail conditions being relaxed saying the fear was that “there’s a safety network far reaching this jurisdiction and the concern is that if he leaves there’s substantial money and finances at his disposal and he would not return”.

Defence counsel Aaron Thompson argued, however, that Shebani has “family ties” to NI and that a £40,000 cash surety had been lodged to ensure bail compliance.

In granting the application, Judge Kerr ordered Shebani to report to police the day he leaves for Majorca and again the day after his return.

Shebani and his brother Nial, who is a member of the gang and is in jail in Northern Ireland for a vicious knife attack, were born in Dublin but moved to their father’s homeland Libya when Aymen was two.

They returned to Dublin when he was 13 and lived in the Donaghmede area.

In more recent years the brothers have based themselves in Northern Ireland.

His gang have been heavily involved in organised crime on both sides of the border and have been linked to several murders and gun attacks.

Members of the gang were arrested in relation to a gun attack on Collie McDonald earlier this year but released on police bail without being charged.

In May, Shebani associate Steven Patrick Morgan (27), who was one of the men arrested over the attack on McDonald, was targeted by a group of men who called to his home in the Chancellors Hall estate in Newry.

The gang violently assaulted him and broke his arm before pouring acid on his groin and face so he would be left with life-long scars.

Sources say he is still recovering from his horrendous injuries and receiving hospital treatment in Belfast.

Days after the attack on Morgan, two men carried out an horrific hatchet attack on two innocent men in a murder attempt at a caravan in the Moor Hill Road area of Newry.

They tried to decapitate one of the victims and hack off his hands in the vicious attacks. Both men were left with serious life-threatening injuries.

Shebani associate Jamie Gallogly (27), from Belleeks, in South Armagh, has been charged with attempted murder in relation to the attacks.

He was charged with two counts of attempted murder, aggravated burglary, criminal damage and possessing a weapon

When he appeared in court Det. Const. Glenn told the court police believed the hatchet attack was linked to the acid on Morgan and the Collie McDonald shooting.

“We fear there’s going to be further offences and further attacks as a result of this feud and there maybe retaliation at Mr Gallogly as it seems to be tit for tat,” he told the court.

Gallogly has since been released on bail.

Sources in Newry said tension remain high in the area due to the feud and there are fears of further attacks.