Accused lay in wait before killing Hutch, Spanish court hears

SPANISH prosecutors say the Irishman accused of murdering Gary Hutch in 2015 wore a balaclava and lay in wait for his victim before chasing him, pumping him full of bullets and shooting him twice in the head as he lay injured.

Dubliner James Quinn (right), a nephew of Martin ‘The Viper’ Foley, faces trial over the Costa del Sol killing.

He has been warned he could become only the second person to be jailed for life in Spain since its return to democracy.

The brutal slaying, which saw Hutch (34) chased round a residential estate and shot in the head and chest, sparked the vendetta between the Hutch and Kinahan families which has claimed at least 15 lives.

Mr Quinn insists he has been wrongly identified as the gunman who killed Hutch on September 24, 2015 outside his home near Fuengirola. The indictment against claims Mr Quinn shot Hutch on the orders of an “unknown person” after being driven to his alleged victim’s home on a gated estate in a stolen car.

It states: “He (was) armed with a 9mm Glock 26 semiautomatic pistol whose serial number had been erased and a .45 semi-automatic Colt 1911 pistol.

“When Gary approached his vehicle moments later, the accused began to shoot at him in a surprise attack. “The victim was able to flee towards the inside of the estate but the accused chased him and fired more than 15 shots. “Finally, the accused caught up with him when Gary was on the ground and virtually motionless because of the bullets he had been hit with. Giving him almost no chance of defending himself, he shot him twice in the head from close range and killed him instantly.” Mr Quinn is due to be tried on the murder charge in June.