Nut job who shot pal ‘in the balls’ despises child pervert brother caged in same jail

Crossbow lunatic James Gillen got over seven years in jail last week for firing the deadly weapon into the ‘balls’ of a drinking pal who owed him a small debt.

When cops arrived 49-year-old Gillen told them, “I shot him in the balls, no problem, he wouldn’t get on the ground so I could kneecap him. There you go, I’ve claimed it…try to f**king do my family in, f**king 2p gangster.”

Bizarrely it was Gillen who called the cops to tell them he’d just shot his mate in the ‘groin’ because he was under the completely false impression his mate was planning to attack him.

A day before the west Belfast man was sent to Maghaberry Prison – and in a completely unrelated case in the exact same courtroom – his younger brother Gavin Gillen was sent to jail for ten months for sending pictures of his ‘balls’ to a teenage girl.

Both are beginning their new ‘future’ behind bars in the Co Antrim maximum security prison but despite their family relationship it’s understood they remain completely estranged.

It’s not known if the pair have crossed paths inside Maghaberry but sources say the prison authorities have been made aware they’d be better kept apart.

“Jim wants nothing to do with Gavin because he’s a child pervert,” said a source. “Gavin was shunned by his family after it emerged what he had been doing but he won’t lose much sleep over being shunned by Jim as the feeling of hatred is mutual.

“Most people would be glad to see a friendly face in prison like your brother but Jim and Gavin despise each other and won’t be giving each other any kind of support. I can tell you there’ll be no brotherly love in Maghaberry between those two.

“The fact both of them have been jailed for such serious offences has ripped the family apart but Gavin has been ostracised for what he did to that wee girl.

“And it hasn’t gone down well that he lied that he was gay in some weird and desperate effort to save his own skin. Everyone knows he’s not gay and everyone knows he had a thing for young girls.

“Both brothers have brought shame onto the family but despite Jim getting far longer in jail the family have more sympathy for him than they do for Gavin.

“Jim suffered a stroke last year and that seems to have wised him up a bit but Gavin won’t find much forgiveness when he gets out jail.”

Gavin Anthony Gillen was jailed at Newry Crown Court for 10 months last week, for sexual communication with a child.

The 43-year-old, who said he was high on cocaine at the time, sent a series of sexually explicit images to the child just over two years ago and then claimed he couldn’t have done such a thing because he’s gay.

But we revealed how Gillen had form for messaging young girls and had even been asked to leave a local gym because of his sleazy behaviour.

Last week the court heard even though he knew full well he was almost 30 years older than the schoolgirl, 43-year-old Gillen still engaged the child in a series of flirtatious, sexually explicit messages, telling the teenager “she was a total honey”.

Gillen began by commenting on skimpy clothes and asking her “if she had seen porn” but he then goes on to asking her “if she has seen a penis and if she has looked for pictures of penises on the web.”

“At one point he sent her two pictures of an erect penis and asked her if she thought that d**k is nice,” said Ms Auret adding Gillen also asked “if she liked girls rather than boys.”

The cocaine loving creep also asked her: if she has kissed boys; If she has felt a penis; If a boy had rubbed his hard penis on her, whether she felt it and did she like it.

“He told her that his d**k was hard as hell,” Ms Auret told the court, describing how Gillen sent her the d**k pics “several times” but warned her to delete them.

In addition to a 10-month jail sentence, Judge Irvine ordered Gillen to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and also imposed a sexual offences prevention order, which places prohibitions on where Gillen can live, who he can date, where he can work and what devices he is allowed.

A day later, in the same court, his older brother James Gillen was jailed for seven-and-a-half years for firing a cross bow into the groin of a so-called ‘mate’ who owed him between £200-£300.

The pair had apparently been on a recent drugs and booze bender which lasted several days.

Gillen called the police to tell them what he had done but when they arrive at his Lagmore Avenue home they discover the victim lying injured nearby, bleeding heavily, who initially tells the cops he injured himself climbing over a fence – before admitting the truth.

He’s taken him to the Royal Victoria Hospital in an ambulance by police escort and he is treated for an 11cm wound on his thigh which required 16 sutures to fix.

The court was told the victim owed Gillen some money he’d lent him on Christmas Day but was struggling to pay so offered his own crossbow as part payment.

He explains the crossbow is in the boot of his car, it’s unstringed and has no bolts with it and that it never leaves the car.

Speaking after the sentence, Detective Sergeant Kitchen said: “Gillen inflicted serious wounds on his victim after shooting him with a crossbow bolt in December 2020, following an altercation in the Lagmore area of Belfast.

"This was a vicious assault which resulted in a man suffering a serious injury and I hope this sentencing sends out a clear message to anyone who thinks they can use violence and get away with it.”

While Gavin will be let out of jail later this year his big brother must serve half his sentence – almost four years – inside before being released on licence for the rest of his term.