BBC Panorama team face threats after Kinahan investigation

A BBC Panorama team has been threatened by criminal elements in Northern Ireland since its investigation into Daniel Kinahan was broadcast last week.

The PSNI has warned the BBC of an unspecified threat from criminal elements in the North following the programme, during which Kinahan’s place in Irish and European gangland crime was reported on as well as his influence within professional boxing.

Kinahan, who lives in the United Arab Emirates and has no convictions, was identified by an Irish High Court judge in 2018 as controlling a vast international network of drugs and arms smuggling.

The Special Criminal Court has accepted Garda evidence about the Kinahan crime group being involved in execution-style murders in the context of feuding.

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Jo Carr, BBC's head of current affairs, said the broadcaster would not be deterred from its work by threats from criminals.

“The BBC places the utmost priority on the safety of our teams, whose journalism plays a vital role in a free society. It is despicable and intolerable if thugs think they can muzzle a free press through intimidation.”

The Kinahan cartel has been engaged in a feud with the Hutch faction since 2015, with an attempt made on Kinahan’s life at a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in Dublin five years ago.

Since then, the Garda has mounted a major operation against Kinahan associates in Ireland and jailed many of them, but his unofficial presence in professional boxing has grown. He has advised heavyweight fighter Tyson Fury, who published a video on social media last year saying Kinahan had put in place a two-fight deal between him and Anthony Joshua.

It was announced last May that Kinahan was advising KHK Sport, a combat sports company founded by a member of Bahrain’s royal family. He was a key figure behind a summit of boxing’s key promoters in Bahrain last September.

However, KHK Sport within weeks said it was no longer working with Kinahan. Fury’s camp then announced Kinahan would no longer negotiate for him.

At least one of the Panorama team has been forced to relocate from his home and has been given security advice and protection after the PSNI informed him on Thursday of the threat against him following Monday’s broadcast.