A fitness instructor and father of two met a tragic fate in a doorstep acid assault, allegedly linked to a £120,000 debt owed after squandering funds belonging to a drug lord, a court has been informed.
Prosecutors revealed that 38-year-old Danny Cahalane found himself in dire straits with a British narcotics kingpin operating out of Dubai, who allegedly threatened his life due to the unpaid debt.
Cahalane, who was involved in drug dealing, suffered a horrific acid attack at his Plymouth, Devon residence last year, leading to his death in a hospital ten weeks later.
The court heard that Ryan Kennedy, known in criminal circles as ‘Frost’, masterminded the assault to assert dominance over Cahalane.
Paris Wilson, Cahalane’s 35-year-old ex-wife and mother of his child, is being tried for murder. She appeared alongside five other men facing similar charges at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday.
Ryan Kennedy remains elusive, not present at the trial nor charged with any offenses, as he is believed to be residing in Dubai.
The other men accused of murder are Abdulrasheed Adedoja, 23, Ramarnee Bakas-Sithole, 23, Israel Augustus, 26, Isanah Sungum, 22, and Brian Kalemba, 23.
The defendants have all pleaded not guilty.
Danny Cahalane was murdered in a doorstep acid attack over his £120,000 debt after he gambled away a drug kingpin’s money, a court heard
Mr Cahalane’s ex-wife Paris Wilson, 35, who he shares a child with, is on trial accused of murder
Prosecutor Jo Martin told the court that Mr Cahalane was killed by people acting on behalf of a ‘drug dealer who wanted to enforce his debt and show Danny Cahalane who was boss’.
Ms Martin said: ‘In the early hours of the morning of the February 21, 2025, two men broke into a house in Plymouth, the home address of the victim Danny Cahalane.
‘By the time the two men had driven off, Danny Cahalane had been the victim of an acid attack – sulphuric acid had been thrown on him; burning into his whole body.
‘Despite being treated in hospital for the next 10 weeks or so, Danny Cahalane died on the 3rd May 2025 as a result of the horrific injuries he had received that night.
‘There can be no doubt, the prosecution said, that Danny Cahalane was murdered.
‘Whoever threw acid over him, must have intended to, at the very least, cause him really serious bodily harm.’
Mr Cahalane was described as ‘a sort of middle management in the drugs supply chain’.
He owed Kennedy money after gambling with profits he made from drug dealing.
It was also heard that someone below him in the chain had fled to New Zealand without giving him some of the money he was owed.
Speaking about messages exchanged between Kennedy and Mr Cahalane, Ms Martin said: ‘What does become clear from the messages is that Danny owed Kennedy in the region of £120,000, and what is absolutely clear from the messages is that Frost was not happy about that.’
Mr Cahalane, pictured with ex-wife Wilson, was ‘doused in acid’ in his own home in Plymouth
Jenna Said, 39, (pictured at Winchester Crown Court) is one of 11 people on trial over Cahalane’s death
Following the acid attack, Danny told police that this left him ‘in the s***’ with Kennedy.
Ms Martin said: ‘Danny told the police he was in significant debt to Kennedy.
‘Danny said he tried to organise some sort of “repayment plan” but it just didn’t work.
‘Instead he did a great deal of stalling and lying.’
The court heard that Mr Cahalane was threatened in the months before the acid attack.
On January 19, 2025, men who ‘tried to rip his door open as he tried to shut it’ on Kennedy’s orders had tried to intimidate him, Ms Martin said.
Kingpin Kennedy then messaged him that day ‘Close call? Mate I’m telling you they gonna burn gaffes down and your gonna die.’
Adedoja, Bakas-Sithole, Augustus, Wilson, Sungum, Kalemba, Jean Mukuna, 23, Arrone Mukuna, 25, and Jenna Said, 39, have all denied participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group.
Adedoja, Bakas-Sithole, Wilson, Jean Mukuna and Arrone Mukuna have pleaded not guilty to the attempted kidnap and attempted grievous bodily harm with intent of Mr Cahalane.
The trial continues.
