Gerard 'The Monk' Hutch, who is charged with the murder of Kinahan gang member David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016, has been further remanded in custody by the Special Criminal Court.
On Wednesday morning, Mr Hutch's case was listed for mention at the non-jury court, but no application was made. Mr Hutch was not present in court and neither the defence nor the prosecution were represented.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt said that he was ordering Mr Hutch (58) to be remanded in custody and that a further date could be made for an application if the accused so wished.
At a previous hearing, defence counsel for Mr Hutch, Mr Brendan Grehan SC, told the three-judge court that he was reserving his client's position in relation to the lawfulness of his arrest, the charge brought against him and in respect of the jurisdiction of the court.
Trial date
A trial date has been fixed for Mr Hutch of October 3rd, 2022, when the accused will go on trial alongside four other co-accused, who are charged in connection with the murder of David Byrne.
On September 29th, Mr Hutch was brought to the non-jury court under heavy security just hours after a Casa 235 military plane flew the 58-year-old directly from Madrid to Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnell in the southwest of Dublin.
Mr Hutch arrived under armed Garda escort and amidst tight security to the Criminal Courts of Justice building on Parkgate Street shortly before 8pm on the night.
Last April, the High Court issued a European Arrest Warrant following an application from the Director of Public Prosecutions for the arrest of Mr Hutch, who was wanted to face trial in Ireland.
Hotel attack
David Byrne (34), from Crumlin, was shot dead at the hotel on the Swords Road in Dublin in February 2016 after five men, three disguised as armed gardaí, stormed the building, which was hosting a boxing weigh-in at the time.
Mr Hutch was extradited from Spain after his final appeal against extradition to Ireland was rejected by a Spanish Appeals Court on September 14th. He was being held in a Madrid prison.
Mr Hutch is charged with the murder of David Byrne, contrary to Common Law, at the Regency Hotel on the Swords Road, Whitehall, Dublin 9, on February 5th, 2016.
Mr Hutch has been in custody since being arrested in a restaurant in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol on August 12th by the Guardia Civil. A search for him began last April after Ireland issued a European Arrest Warrant in connection with the attack on the Regency Hotel.
Extradition
In fighting his extradition to Spain, Mr Hutch argued he was under threat in Ireland from criminal groups. The Spanish court rejected this argument, stating the Irish authorities are capable of keeping him safe.
However, the three judges of the Spanish court did concede to a request by Mr Hutch to serve any sentence which might be imposed by the Special Criminal Court in Spain as he is a full-time resident of the country.
It took into account that the Dublin man is a Spanish resident who has paid tax there since 2012 and whose family live in the country.
Mr Hutch, of The Paddocks, Clontarf, Dublin 3, is the third man to be charged with the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel on the Swords Road, Whitehall, Dublin 9, on February 5th, 2016.
A nephew of Mr Hutch, Patrick Hutch, walked free from the Special Criminal Court in 2019 after charges against him for the murder of Mr Byrne at the Regency Hotel were dropped by the State. Patrick Hutch (28) of Champions Avenue, Dublin 1, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Byrne.
Last April, former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall (43), with an address at Navan Road, Cabra, Dublin 7 was charged at the non-jury court with the murder of Mr Byrne at the hotel. He will go on trial alongside three other co-accused, who are charged in connection with the murder of David Byrne, at the Special Criminal Court on October 3rd, 2022.
The shooting took place during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel. The venue was raided by a man dressed as a woman and another wearing a flat cap, who were armed with handguns, followed by three people dressed in tactical-style garda uniforms carrying assault rifles.
