Courts / Limerick / Report

Wife of Keane gang member avoids jail for using crime cash in house renovations

Date
2024-01-22

Stage
Sentence

Court
Limerick City. The Special Criminal Court

Primary locality
Limerick

Summary

Vicky Hehir and Warren Hehir were sentenced at the Special Criminal Court after pleading guilty to money laundering charges linked to the Keane organised crime group. Vicky Hehir, 30, admitted to laundering €12,000 in cash for renovations at a Limerick City home and one charge relating to €59,000 for works at Kilmurry Court. The court found her involvement was solely due to her marriage and placed her offending at the lower end of the scale. She was sentenced to two years in prison, fully suspended, on conditions that she refrain from contact with organised crime groups and reside away from the Garryowen and Kilmurry areas. Her husband, Warren Hehir, 33, pleaded guilty to handling €59,000 in cash and a Rolex watch, both alleged to be proceeds of criminal conduct. The judge noted his mid-level status within the gang and 54 previous convictions. He received a headline sentence of seven years and three months, reduced to five years and three months, with the final 12 months suspended. Conditions require him to refrain from contact with organised crime and demonstrate a law-abiding lifestyle. The court also ordered the forfeiture of two seized Rolex watches and all seized money. Sandra Hehir, Warren's mother, previously pleaded guilty to laundering over €100,000 at her home, though she was not sentenced in this specific hearing.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Wife of Keane gang member avoids jail for using crime cash in house renovations. Charges or matters: laundering money by handing over €12,000 in cash to a builder to carry out works at a home in Limerick City; one charge of money laundering in relation to the €59,000 for the works carried out at Kilmurry Court. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

August 8, 2019 Incident
17 June Incident
June 17, 2020 Incident
July 2020 Other
August 2017 Hearing Or Sentence
August 2020 Incident
2024-01-22 Publication

Case subjects

Sandra Hehir

Defendant

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: The court heard that Warren Hehir didn't engage with gardai during his detention other than to answer one question in relation to renovations at Kilmurry Court, in which he said "I got the work done".

Vicky Hehir

Defendant

Charges: laundering money by handing over €12,000 in cash to a builder to carry out works at a home in Limerick City; one charge of money laundering in relation to the €59,000 for the works carried out at Kilmurry Court (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: He sentenced Ms Hehir to two years in prison, fully suspended, on condition that she refrain from any contact with members of the Keane gang or any organised crime group and reside away from the Keane strongholds in the Garryowen and Kilmurry areas of Limerick. Her husband Warren Hehir – a "mid level" member of the gang who is the nephew of murdered crime boss Kieran Keane – was sentenced to five years and three months in prison with the final twelve months suspended, also on the condition that he refrain from contact with members of any organised criminal group.

Warren Hehir

Defendant

Charges: one charge of money laundering in relation to the €59,000 for the works carried out at Kilmurry Court (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Warren Hehir (33) of the same address appeared before the three-judge court to hear their sentences today. The judge said it is incumbent on Hehir to "demonstrate his commitment to his children and be a law-abiding citizen and adopt a law-abiding way of life" as part of the conditions of his suspended sentence.