Legal dispute continues over damage to Gately’s former home

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A legal dispute continues over how much damage James ‘Mago’ Gately did to his former home before handing it over to the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB). The proceedings were reported on 20 February 2026.

The house at Glin Drive, Coolock, sold at auction for €308,000 in November 2025. Gately said in an affidavit that his relationship with his former partner, Charlene Lam, had ended and that he was living alone at the house when he removed the staircase, kitchen, doors and other fittings.

Mr Justice Alexander Owens accepted that Ms Lam had left before the damage and said she should receive €11,000 from the sale. CAB had taken possession of the house in April 2025.

In June 2024, the High Court judge found, on the balance of probabilities, that the house had been overwhelmingly funded with crime proceeds. He also found that a Volkswagen Golf and a Rolex watch were probably bought with crime proceeds and gave the bureau’s receiver power to sell them.

Gately and Ms Lam denied the allegations and said their assets came from legitimate funds. Their lawyers said Ms Lam paid the mortgage and living expenses, while Gately said threats to his life had prevented him from working since 2015.

The judge said approximately €6,500 of the house’s funding likely came from a personal injuries payment to Ms Lam and would be deducted from any order concerning their assets and funds. He also allowed a deduction for import duty on the vehicle and said the couple would have an opportunity to explain their mortgage payments from April 2019.