Judges at the Special Criminal Court have refused to hear a bid by Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch to have a murder charge against him dismissed.
Hutch, 59, last of The Paddocks, Clontarf, is accused of the murder of Kinahan gang member David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016, and is due to stand trial with four others in October. Ruling on whether the court had the jurisdiction to hear Hutch’s application, presiding judge Ms Justice Tara Burns said that, in order for the non-jury court to hear such a matter, a case must be sent forward for trial from the District Court.
As Hutch was charged before the Special Criminal Court and not the District Court, the three judges rejected arguments previously made by his lawyers.
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Defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC, for Hutch, said last week it would be an “extraordinary situation” and an “absurd interpretation” of Section 4E of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1967 if the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) could deny his client “the obvious benefit” of bringing the application simply because he was charged in the Special Criminal Court and not the District Court.
Hutch’s four co-accused supported the Section 4E application which states that a court can dismiss the charges against an accused person before trial where there is insufficient evidence. On September 29 2021, Hutch appeared before an out-of-hours sitting of the non-jury Special Criminal Court charged with the murder Mr Byrne.
Delivering the ruling of the non-jury court yesterday, Ms Justice Burns said the defence was seeking to bring a Section 4E application as they were asserting that the case to put the accused on trial was insufficient. She said the defence maintained a literal interpretation of the section would result in the unequal treatment of their client, as opposed to other accused who are originally charged before the District Court.
The judge said the prosecution’s contention was that Section 4E was not available to the defence as Hutch was charged directly before the Special Criminal Court. “The prosecution submit that the terms of Section 4E are clear and that it is only available to an accused when they are sent forward for trial.
She added: “As the accused was charged before the Special Criminal Court, [they say] he does not fall within the terms of the section.” Ms Justice Burns said the court disagreed that the section could be classified as a matter of practice and procedure.
She said the court must apply a literal interpretation to the section to see what the intention of the legislature was and that only when an absurd result would result within the context of the act, would a purposeful approach be adopted. The judge said that an accused being sent forward for trial from the District Court is a precedent that the Special Criminal Court must meet.
In summary, the judge said it was not appropriate for the non-jury court to examine this matter any further as the literal meaning in Section 4E reflected the intentions of the Oireachtas. The case was adjourned to the trial date of October 3.
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