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Estonian man pleads guilty to conspiracy to murder

An Estonian man has pleaded guilty to conspiring to murder a man in Northern Ireland.

Imre Arakas, 59, with an address in Sopruse, Tallinn, Estonia, admitted conspiring with others who are not before the courts to murder James Gately in Northern Ireland between 3 and 4 April last year.

He was one of three men detained by officers from the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau at a property in west Dublin on 3 April 2017.

He will be sentenced next month.

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Gardaí investigating the Hutch-Kinahan feud, which has so far cost 18 lives, received intelligence that Arakas was coming to Ireland.

He flew into Dublin last April and officers from the Garda National Drugs Unit had him under surveillance before he was arrested in Blakestown.

After two days in custody, he was charged with conspiring with others to murder Mr Gately, who has links to the Hutch family.

Mr Gately told a court last year that his life was under threat and a number of attempts have been made on his life, the most serious of which was last May when he was shot several times at a petrol station in Clonshaugh near Dublin Airport.

Mr Gately was also linked with the Kinahan gang but fell out with them following the murder of Gary Hutch, the first victim of the feud.

At the Special Criminal Court this morning, Arakas was arraigned and when the charge of conspiring with others to murder Mr Gately in Northern Ireland last April was put to him, he coughed and said "guilty".

His defence counsel asked for a governor's report from Portlaoise Prison, where Arakas is currently detained to be made available.

He was remanded in custody for sentencing on 30 November, when the facts of the case will be heard.