Freed Regency accused ‘is a dead man walking’
PATRICK Hutch has received an official warning from gardaí that his life is under threat, the Irish Daily Mail can reveal.
Officers fear that 26-year-old Hutch is a dead man walking after he walked free from court yesterday when a murder charge against him in connection with the killing of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016, was dropped.
Detectives officially warned Hutch last week in prison that there was an active threat against his life from the Kinahan crime gang.
David Byrne was shot dead in the Dublin hotel as revenge for the murder of Gary Hutch in Spain. Gary was a brother of Patrick Hutch, who yesterday jumped on the back of a motorbike shortly after he was told that charges at the Special Criminal Court had been dropped.
David Byrne’s distraught mother tried to address the court after the charges were dropped but was refused.
Mr Hutch, who has an address at Champions Avenue, Dublin 1, was served with a Garda Information Message, commonly known as a GIM form, informing him that his life was under threat.
Well-placed sources say that Patrick Hutch, a nephew of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch was with his father Patsy when he sped away on a motorbike moments after he was released from custody.
It is understood that he has not returned to his home in Dublin’s north inner city. Gardaí believe he went immediately to the North.
A source said: ‘He knows he is now a major target for the Kinahan cartel. He has been officially informed of that by gardaí. He has an arrow on his head. He is seen as a dead man walking in many ways. But if he’s careful, he can evade them. His uncle, The Monk, has. It’s not a surprise that he fled Dublin after getting released. It was probably the safest move for him. It’s what he does next that will determine if he can survive the Kinahan cartel.’
Patrick Hutch had pleaded not guilty to the murder of David Byrne, 34, at the Regency Hotel in Dublin on February 5, 2016. The non-jury Special Criminal Court heard that the shooting took place during a boxing weigh-in. A man dressed as a woman and another wearing a flat cap, armed with handguns, followed by three people dressed in dark police-style uniforms, carrying assault rifles, raided the venue.
It was the State’s case that Patrick Hutch was the man dressed as a woman and that, although he did not shoot Mr Byrne, he was part of a ‘shared intention’ to murder Mr Byrne.
Yesterday, counsel for the DPP, Seán Gillane SC, entered a nolle prosequi [no prosecution] against Hutch. Mr Justice Tony Hunt granted the application and as the court rose, David Byrne’s mother said she wanted to address the court.
Judge Hunt refused the request and she went on to make allegations about how the trial had been held.
In the aftermath of the hearing, David Byrne’s sister asked angrily: ‘Where is the justice? Put that in your paper and print it. Where is it?’
When asked outside the court if Hutch’s life was in danger, Mr Byrne’s mother, Sadie, said: ‘His life’s not in danger from us.’
She added: ‘I haven’t said one word since this started, not one word to any papers, any photographers… but I’m just sick of it, I can’t take any more.’
The court heard yesterday how following the death of Detective Superintendent Colm Fox, the prosecution was not in a position to lead the evidence on a number of topics.
Patrick Hutch is not a convicted criminal. He has had very little interactions with gardaí.
He was arrested in late 2015 on suspicion of withholding information after he declined to make a statement after being shot in the leg in the north inner city, an attack believed to have been ordered by the Kinahan cartel.
He is the younger brother of Gary and Del Boy Hutch.
Del Boy received a six-year jail sentence for manslaughter in 2011 after he stabbed a 23-year-old to death.
In 2012, Del Boy Hutch was sentenced to 16 years for his role in a May 2009 robbery during which gardaí shot dead his accomplice. Patrick’s Hutch’s other older brother, Gary, was shot dead in Mijas, Malaga, in September 2015.
Reports he has left Dublin ‘Where’s the justice?’