‘CCTV of man accused of Hutch killing flouts privacy’

LAWYERS representing a man accused of murdering Gareth Hutch have claimed that CCTV footage should not be admissible in the trial as it breaches privacy rights.

CCTV recording of Dublin’s north inner city is so ‘extensive and pervasive’ that it amounts to a significant interference into a person’s private life, Seán Guerin SC, for Jonathan Keogh, 32, told the Special Criminal Court yesterday.

Thomas Fox, 31, of Rutland Court, Dublin; Regina Keogh, 41, of Avondale House, Cumberland Street North, Dublin; and Mr Keogh, of Gloucester Place, Dublin, have pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Hutch.

The State is seeking to admit CCTV footage concerning the movements of the accused in the days leading up to Mr Hutch’s murder as well as transactions carried out by them and CCTV tracking several vehicles.

Paul Burns SC, prosecuting, said a small amount of the footage was obtained from residential premises but that the majority of it concerns business premises.

In his submissions, Mr Guerin said the CCTV footage concerns extensive private interactions and activities happening in a public sphere. He further argued that gardaí are able to seek out CCTV footage ‘without any qualification or restriction’ and that such a system cannot be said to be in accordance with Irish law.

The court should decline to admit evidence, which is in breach of Mr Keogh’s privacy right under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Data Protection Act, he said.

Mr Burns, prosecuting, told the non-jury court that Mr Keogh’s charter rights have not been infringed.

Mr Hutch, 36, nephew of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch, was shot dead as he was getting into his car outside the Avondale House flats on North Cumberland Street in Dublin on the morning of May 24, 2016. He died as a result of four gunshot injuries.

The judges are expected to give a decision today on the admissibility of the CCTV footage as evidence.