FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE IRISH MAIL ON SUNDAY ON 06/06/2010.
By: Michael O’Farrell
Investigative Correspondent
HEAD shop boss James Bellamy has a group of henchmen with a violent past working with him despite the Government clampdown on the legal high trade.
Associates of the Nirvana chain boss identified by the Irish Mail on Sunday include a hard man dubbed ‘Buckets Of Blood’ and one with a conviction for assaulting police.
A third man, a former member of the Provisional IRA known by gardaà to have been involved with a high-profile kidnapping gang, is also one of Bellamy’s allies.
Last month, most of the country’s 102 head shops closed after Health Minister Mary Harney placed some of their most popular products, like mephedrone and cannabis substitute Spice, on a list of banned substances.
But in recent weeks, 36 have reopened, with many selling a legal high that mimics the effects of cocaine. With millions of euro at stake, shop owners are pulling out all the stops to ensure they continue operating.
Indeed, Bellamy, 62, has made millions from his chain of 15 legal high stores over the years. The Scotsman recently bought a new Jaguar and has plans to move part of his business to Bulgaria.
Paddy Morgan, who works in Bel-lamy’s Clanbrassil Street head shop in Dublin’s south inner city, earned his ‘Buckets Of Blood’ nickname because of a city centre fight more than three decades ago which resulted in a man’s death.
Although Morgan is understood to have faced charges over the killing, he denied spending any time in jail when approached this week by the MoS. He explained in a written statement: ‘You have also advised me that I have a conviction for manslaughter and that I was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. I wish to advise you that I have not been sentenced to any term of imprisonment whatsoever in my lifetime.’ Morgan is a brother of Martin ‘The Beast’ Morgan, who was jailed in 2008 for three years after being found guilty of running a brothel. The pair come from a Kildare family of 12. Another former business partner of Bellamy’s is Patrick Grant. The 39-year-old, who is understood to live in Asia, is a co-director of two Bellamy firms, Harmony Products Ltd and Bedrock Head Shops Ltd.
The MoS has confirmed that Grant, whose last known address was in Portlaoise, has two convictions for violent or threatening behaviour.
In 1989, he was convicted of assaulting police in Walton, in the north of England. Five years later, he was arrested while drunk and in possession of a knife at Raheny’s SuperValu store on Dublin’s northside.
Grant, who is understood to have had a falling out with Bellamy, is thought to have left Ireland with up to €750,000 and to have received further payments via wire transfer afterwards. In the meantime, Bellamy is being prosecuted by the Irish Medicines Board in a case scheduled to resume on Friday.
He faces several charges under the the Medicines Board Act. If convicted, Bellamy could be jailed or fined. Because the case is still pending, the IMB cannot comment about the investigation that led to the prosecutions taking place.
However, the penalties available to the court under the Irish Medicines Board Acts include a fine and a one year prison term. On conviction on indictment for a first offence, the acts allow for a fine of €120,000 and 10 years in prison.
Subsequent offences can lead to fines of up to €300,000. This week, Dermot Ahern vowed to shut down head shops forever with the introduction of new legislation. The justice minister said: ‘What we’re trying to do is a catch-all piece of legislation so as to obviate the necessity to go back every time there’s a new product on the market.’
