‘Charge Daniel with murder of Monk’s brother’
Gardai’s formal request to DPP over shooting of taxi man Eddie
GARDAI have formally asked for mob boss Daniel Kinahan to be charged with the murder of a brother of Gerry “The Monk” Hutch, it has emerged.
Sources have confirmed to us that detectives probing the March 2016 gun attack on Eddie Hutch, 58, at his Dublin home have sent a file to the DPP – and it contains a recommendation that Kinahan be charged over it.
The file was submitted in the last two weeks, Dublin coroner’s court heard yesterday.
An inquest into the murder of Mr Hutch heard that three persons of interest fled Ireland shortly after – and we have established that Dubai-based Kinahan is one of them.
The DPP is now considering the file and it is expected her office will make a decision on whether Kinahan and the other suspects should be charged within six months.
Det Insp Aidan Flanagan told a brief sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Monday that a file on the investigation into the murder of Mr Hutch outside his home in Dublin’s north inner city eight years ago was forwarded to the DPP within the past fortnight.
No suspects were named in the hearing – but Mirror sources confirmed Kinahan is one of them and the file recommends that he be charged with murder.
It’s understood gardai have evidence Kinahan was in the area around the time of the murder and played a directing role in the killing.
Mr Hutch, a father-of-five and taxi driver from Poplar Row, Ballybough, Dublin 3 sustained a number of fatal gunshot wounds after he was approached by several assailants as he pulled up in his taxi outside his house on February 8, 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.
Det Insp Flangan informed coroner Clare Keane on the progress of the case and said some 1,300 investigative tasks including the taking of 500 statements had been carried out by gardai.
The senior detective observed that the investigation into Mr
Hutch’s
There was a lot of material to be scrutinised DET INSP FLANAGAN
killing had been “quite complex”. He also said the case had collected 200 exhibits, while “tens of thousands of hours” of CCTV footage had also been examined.
“There was a lot of material to be scrutinised,” said Det Insp Flanagan. The inquest also heard that a total of 13 people had been arrested as part of the investigation to date.
However, Det Insp Flanagan said three individuals, whom he described as “persons of interest,” had left the jurisdiction shortly after the murder of Mr Hutch.
“They never returned and they never made themselves available for the investigation,” he added.
Det Insp Flanagan said such issues had added to the difficulties and complexity faced by gardai leading the investigation.
Under Section 25 (1) of the Coroners Act, he applied for an adjournment of the inquest as criminal proceedings are being considered in the case. Det Insp Flanagan said Mr
Hutch’s family were aware of the application and “understood the position clearly.”
No relatives of the deceased attended the five-minute hearing.
Det Insp Flanagan told the coroner he hoped that gardai would receive a direction from the DPP on the case within the next six months.
Dr Keane granted the application and adjourned the hearing for mention to September 24.
The shooting of Mr Hutch took place just three days after a daring attack on a boxing weigh-in ceremony at the Regency Hotel in Whitehall which sparked a bloody gangland feud between members of the rival Hutch and Kinahan criminal organisations.
During the incident which was carried out by members of the Hutch gang – some of whom posed as gardai – a senior member of the Kinahan cartel, David Byrne, was fatally wounded, although it is believed the intended prime target was Daniel Kinahan, son of international drug gang boss, Christy Kinahan Senior.
Gardaí believe Mr Hutch was shot in retaliation for the brutal murder of Byrne and was targeted by members of the Kinahan gang solely because he was the brother of The Monk who had gone into hiding immediately after the shooting of Byrne.