VETERAN criminal James ‘Jaws’ Byrne wanted to emulate Martin ‘The General’ Cahill — but never had the smarts to compete at the top table of organised crime himself, sources have revealed. Byrne — who died after suffering from kidney failure on September 7 — had to rely on his sons to help their group become a serious organised crime outfit. A retired detective told The Irish Sun: “James Byrne thought he was intelligent, but the reality is he was just a thug.
” Byrne, also nicknamed ‘Jemmy’, was laid to rest last Friday in what was a quiet affair and a far cry from the funeral held for his son David over eight years ago after the Hutch gang plugged him with six bullets at the reception of the Regency Hotel in north Dublin. Byrne, a father of six, long held a hatred for the Gardai, but former investigators have explained how the feeling was mutual. He was a close associate of dangerous armed robber Cahill and in 1995, he was jailed for three years for the possession of forged and blank cheques.
Upon his release and with Cahill dead , cops believed he was trying to up his game with the hope of climbing the ladder in organised crime. But one source explained how he was an “obnoxious b*****d” and “incredibly stubborn”. When he agreed to repay over €43,000 in unemployment assistance in 2002, he managed to swing an agreement where he would have to turn up to Harcourt Square — where specialist Gardai units were based — and pay €100 off weekly.
The source explained: “Every week, he dropped €100 to the security hatch. That’s how much trouble he went through every week, it was his way of saying ‘f*** you’. "He thought he was the next ‘General’ because he was tutored by Martin Cahill.
” While he was hit by the Criminal Assets Bureau on a number of occasions, Jaws Byrne targeted businesses in the Crumlin area of south Dublin to clean his dirty cash. Another source said: “Byrne was by no means the brightest spark, but he ruled with fear. “The intimidation of businesses in the Crumlin area was horrendous.
“He targeted cash-based businesses in particular, and the business people just had to do it because of the fear of being targeted. It was shocking. “James Byrne thought he was intelligent, but the reality is he was just a thug.
” MARTIN Cahill is one of the most well-known criminals in Irish history having risen to prominence in Dublin at an early age. Nicknamed The General by the media, the notorious gang boss was the undisputed kingpin of crime in the nation's capital. Cahill was given the name The General for his dangerous criminal exploits, with a theft at a Dublin jeweller the starting point for the famous pseudonym.
The nickname was subject to a book, appropriately named The General, written by Paul Williams which detailed the gangster's life. There was also a film made under the same title starring Brendan Gleeson which depicted the crime spree the ruthless mobster undertook. The crime kingpin was killed August 18, 1994, aged 45.
The assassination was carried out by the IRA , who had the killer dress as a corporate worker before gunning Cahill down just before 3.20pm that day. The professional hitman shot Cahill behind the wheel of his car at point-blank range to the head and chest at Charleston Road in Ranelagh, just a couple of hundred yards from his home.
The General was killed instantly while the assassin sped off on a stolen motorbike which was later found abandoned at Sandyford Cove. Cahill committed a series of serious crimes throughout his reign as the capital's chief mobster. In a famous robbery, Cahill and his gang of sidekicks stole over £1.
5 million from the O'Connors jewellery factory based in Dublin. In 1982, Cahill planted a bomb intended for Dr James Donovan which successfully injured him. Donovan was the state's chief forensic scientist and a witness in an armed robbery case against The General.
Cahill was also famously still collecting the dole despite having a clearly luxurious lifestyle he obtained from illegal antics. When his dole was cut, he had an inspector in the Department of Social Welfare, Brian Purcell, kidnapped and shot in the legs. One source said Byrne wasn’t as shrewd as the likes of Christy ‘Dapper Don’ Kinahan , who moved his operations to Spain and left the country as he built his multi-million-euro cartel.
It was his sons, Liam and David, who would later step up to be leading members of the Kinahan OCG’s Irish operations. This source added: “Naturally, Jaws Byrne took a back seat and let the two sons Liam and David at it then. "He just lived off their proceeds.
“But Jaws would never have reached the level of notoriety he did if it was not for his sons rising to the senior ranks of the Kinahan cartel.” Liam and brother-in-law ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh will go on trial in the UK on Tuesday over an alleged plot to acquire firearms and ammunition..
