Regarded as the Kinahan cartel ’s No 1 target, Gerry “The Monk” Hutch will spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder — no matter where he decides to spend his new-found freedom.
And with a live threat on his life, The Monk — who turned 60 last week — is highly unlikely to spend any time living in Dublin in the fear he will be seen as a “sitting duck”. His face is so well-known here, blending in in another country would be better for his safety.
After the murder of David Byrne, the Kinahans had a reputed bounty of €1m on Hutch’s head. And that bounty is likely to be still in place. Hutch also faces a further threat to his freedom — as there is an ongoing investigation into allegations he directed the activities of the Hutch Organised Crime Gang.
Read more: 'Go on Gerry' heard outside court as Gerald 'The Monk' Hutch walks free
Last year he was taken from his cell by gardai from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and quizzed in connection with this probe. A file is being prepared for the DPP. The offence carries with it the possibility of a life sentence.
However, it is not known whether gardai will be in a position to charge Hutch with this offence now that he has been cleared of the murder of 34-year-old David Byrne. He was one of Ireland’s most wanted fugitives who fled to Lanzarote following the shooting of David Byrne and managed to live his life undetected for nearly five years before his high-profile arrest.
A master of disguise, Hutch managed to remain out of sight from the public since February 2016, when he was seen at the funeral of his brother Eddie Hutch, who was gunned down by the Kinahans in revenge for Byrne’s murder, until his arrest in August 2021. He was arrested following a five-month manhunt involving Spain’s top anti-fugitive police unit as he sat down to have a meal in a restaurant on the Costa del Sol. A European Arrest Warrant was issued for Hutch in April 2021.
Now, wherever he decides to go he is likely to keep a low profile again in one of his many properties in Lanzarote, Spain, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary or London – properties gardai allege he amassed on the profits of the Marino Mart robbery and the Brinks Allied raids, claims Hutch has always denied. He has listed a property in Tias in Lanzarote as the headquarters for his Spanish real estate company but whether he will actually live in the property is not known.
Hutch will also be careful who he forges friendships with in the future as he no longer trusts anybody after Jonathan Dowdall decided to testify against him. Meanwhile, the Irish Mirror has established that there are no charges outstanding against Hutch.
It had been thought that detectives were close to completing their probe into suspicions Hutch had been working with corrupt ex-Garda superintendent John Murphy – but we have learned the investigation still has months to go. “If he walks, he walks. There is nothing to stop him,” a source said prior to the verdict. “That’s the way of the world. There are no other charges outstanding against him here.”
Read more: Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch found not guilty of murder of David Byrne at Regency Hotel
Hutch is suspected of directing a crime gang as well as receiving confidential Garda information from disgraced ex-superintendent Murphy, 62, who is now serving a six-and-a-half-year jail term for possessing cannabis at his Dublin home in 2021. NBCI detectives have spent months on their investigation, which is separate to the Ballymun Garda Station probe into the attack on the Regency Airport Hotel in north central Dublin in which Daniel Kinahan ally David Byrne, 33, was shot dead — and for which murder suspect Hutch spent three months on trial.
He always denied the charge of murder and while he has now been acquitted, that is not the end of the garda probe into him. The investigation into his links with Murphy is ongoing and sources say gardai want to charge Hutch, with an address in Clontarf in north Dublin, with directing a crime gang. That rarely used offence is one of the most potent weapons in the State’s armoury against crime gangs — and has a maximum jail term of life upon conviction.
Sources have told us that the NBCI squad looking at Hutch for the offence have finished the investigative stage of their probe and are now compiling a file on it for the Director of Public Prosecutions. The sources said the case was so complex that it was likely to be several months before the file is completed and sent to the DPP.
And it is also likely that the law officer will spend several more months examining the file before she makes a decision on whether Hutch should be charged. That means it could be almost a year before a decision is made — and, if acquitted, Hutch could be anywhere in the world by then.
The sources also said gardai are preparing a file in relation to Murphy and he is also likely to face charges over his links to Hutch. A serving garda, who has been suspended as part of the probe, may also face prosecution.
Gardai believe Murphy, who was jailed last October for possessing €260,000 worth of cannabis at his Dublin home, co-operated with Hutch for years — and gave him sensitive information. Both he and Hutch were taken out of prison to be questioned separately as part of the probe.
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