A file on the gangland murder of the brother of crime boss, Gerry “The Monk” Hutch, is to be forwarded to the DPP in the next few weeks, gardaí have confirmed.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that gardaí had made progress in their investigation into the fatal shooting of Eddie Hutch outside his home in Dublin’s north inner city over seven years ago.
Mr Hutch (58), a father of five and taxi driver from Poplar Row, Ballybough, Dublin 3 was approached by several gunmen as he pulled up in his taxi outside his house on February 8th, 2016.
A silver BMW 3 series vehicle, which was believed to be the getaway car, was found abandoned a short distance away on St Patrick’s Parade in Drumcondra.
The fatal shooting occurred just three days after members of the Hutch gang killed a member of the rival Kinahan cartel, David Byrne, in a daring raid on a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in Whitehall.
Gardaí believe Mr Hutch was shot in retaliation for the brutal murder of Mr Byrne.
At the latest hearing of the inquest into Mr Hutch’s death, the coroner, Clare Keane, noted the case had last come before her court 12 months ago and had been adjourned to allow for “an ongoing complex investigation.”
Detective Inspector Mary McCormack of Mountjoy Garda station, said “a number of advances” had been made over the intervening period including a number of arrests.
Although she did not specify any details of the investigation, it is known that at least three suspects have been arrested in relation to Mr Hutch’s murder.
They included a male in his 40s who is believed to be a key figure in the Kinahan crime cartel.
He was detained for questioning in May but later released without charge.
Another individual, who was serving a prison sentence was also arrested in April in relation to the murder of Mr Hutch.
Det Insp McCormack said a file was being prepared for the DPP which she expected would be forwarded “very shortly”.
She sought a further adjournment of the inquest under Section 25.1 of the Coroners Act on the basis that criminal proceedings are being considered.
Dr Keane granted the application and adjourned the case until a date in March 2024 for mention.
No members of the Hutch family attended the hearing, but the coroner was informed that the victim’s relatives were aware of the application for a further adjournment of the case.
Byrne’s death sparked a major killing spree by the Kinahan gang of relatives and associates of The Monk whom they believed planned the attack on the Regency Hotel in revenge for the killing of his nephew, Gary Hutch, in Spain in September 2015.
Eddie Hutch was the first of six people associated with the Hutch gang to be murdered by the Kinahan gang in 2016 in the aftermath of the Regency Hotel shooting in a gangland feud which has claimed a total of 18 lives to date since the killing of Gary Hutch.
It is believed that Mr Hutch was targeted by members of the Kinahan crime cartel solely because he was the brother of Gerry Hutch.
Although he had a number of convictions for minor criminal offences for small-time fraud and shoplifting, Mr Hutch was not regarded as having any involvement in serious crime.
However, he was suspected of helping to launder some of the proceeds of crimes organised by his brother and he was the subject of an investigation by the Criminal Assets Bureau in the late 1990s.
