Daniel Kinahan expected to appear in person at court hearing next month

Alleged crime gang leader Daniel Kinahan is expected to appear in person when his case returns before the Special Criminal Court early next month.Kinahan was charged last August with directing an organised crime group between 2015 and 2017 and remanded in custody to Portlaoise Prison. His case is listed for mention before the non-jury three-judge court on October 5th when the court is expected to be updated by lawyers for the Director of Public Prosecutions concerning preparation of a book of evidence. When Kinahan appeared before the court on August 9th last, two hours after arriving in Ireland following his extradition from the United Arab Emirates, he was not legally represented. READ MOREOn October 5th, the court is expected to be told whether he has instructed lawyers or is applying for representation via the criminal legal aid scheme.It is understood, since August, he approached a number of lawyers in relation to taking on his case privately. At the August 9th hearing, he said he did not have time to arrange representation and assumed a family member would have contacted some legal representation.He was told he would have time to put in place a legal team before the case returned to court on October 5th.He was also given the option of appearing before video link or in person for the October 5th hearing and is believed to have since indicated a wish to appear in person. That will require a major security operation.Daniel Kinahan was arrested in Dubai in April and extradited to Ireland last month Kinahan faces a single charge of “directing the activities of a criminal organisation” between October 18th, 2015, and April 6th, 2017, contrary to section 71a of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, as amended. He is the first Irish person extradited from the UAE under a new permanent extradition treaty, which came into force last year. He had lived in Dubai with his wife and five children for the last 10 years. He was arrested in Dubai in April on foot of an extradition request from Ireland and was in custody there until he was extradited.