Kinahan target Patsy Hutch rolled his eyes and refused to comment when confronted about claims that he plotted the Regency Hotel shooting.
Patsy, 62, a brother of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch was directly named by Ms Justice Tara Burns in the Special Criminal Court last month as possibly being the organiser of the dramatic gangland hit that claimed the life of David Byrne in February 2016.
But when confronted on the streets of Dublin and asked to comment on Ms Justice Burns findings, Patsy appeared to roll his eyes, and kept on walking - without uttering a word.
Read more: State objects The Monk's bid to have his estimated €400,000 legal costs paid for
We approached Patsy near his inner city home where a 24-hour garda presence protects his family - and mere minutes after his sons - convicted killer Derek ‘Del Boy’ Hutch, and Regency-accused Patrick Jr, were seen strolling the streets of the capital.
After finding his brother Gerry not guilty of Byrne’s murder last month, respected Judge Tara Burns told the Special Criminal Court that “a reasonable possibility arises on the evidence that the Regency was planned by Patsy Hutch and that Gerard Hutch stepped in, as head of the family, to attempt to sort out the aftermath.”
Ms Justice Burns also went further in her scathing judgement last month, saying that the court was satisfied that Patsy, who is not charged with any offence, “was centrally involved” in the movement of the three AK47 rifles that were used in the Regency, when they were given to IRA man Shane Rowan on March 9, 2016.
But when approached with these claims this week Patsy stayed quiet, ignoring this reporter and continuing on his walk, seemingly without a care in the world.
Patsy has continued to stroll the streets of Dublin in spite of an active threat on his life from the Kinahan cartel - and as the taxpayer continues to fund the 24 hour garda presence outside his Champions Avenue home.
Patsy is the father of Gary Hutch, who was brutally murdered by the Kinahan cartel in September 2015, and whose death sparked the bloody Kinahan Hutch feud.
Earlier in the day before we approached Patsy, we spotted his sons Patrick and Derek ‘Del Boy’ Hutch - seen together in public for the first time.
The pair were seen laughing and joking as they walked through the inner city - with ‘Del Boy’ seen holding a large black bag.
Patrick, like his father Patsy, is considered to be a major target for the ruthless Kinahan cartel, who blame the pair for the murder of David Byrne in the Regency Hotel on February 5, 2016.
Patrick was accused of playing a central role in that incident - with the State alleging that he was the gunman dressed in drag with a blonde wig and glasses on the day of the murder.
Patrick denied murdering Byrne, and in a dramatic development in 2019, his Special Criminal Court trial sensationally collapsed.
Patrick was freed from custody and the murder charge was dropped after it emerged that then lead investigator - Detective Superintendent Colm Fox, had died in tragic personal circumstances in Ballymun Garda Station.
Derek ‘Del Boy’ Hutch was freed from prison in 2021 after serving a 16-year sentence he received in 2012 for his role in an armed raid in May 2009 in Lucan, Dublin, during which his friend Gareth Molloy was shot dead by gardai. He was also given a ten-year sentence after he was caught with the gun and silencer.
Before this conviction, he was caged for six years for knifing lad Barry Maguire in Co Meath on St Stephen’s Day in 2007.
The 52-day murder trial of Gerry Hutch contained several moments where his brother Patsy’s name was mentioned in relation to events alleged by the State.
The three judges ultimately ruled that the court was satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt of the events of March 9, 2016, during which convicted IRA man Shane Rowan was observed by the Garda National Surveillance Unit (NSU) meeting with Patsy Hutch in the Newtown Industrial Estate in Malahide, North Dublin.
During that incident Rowan was observed meeting Patsy and getting into his Toyota Yaris, while separately men were observed transferring the three AK47 rifles into the boot of Rowan’s Insignia - parked nearby.
Read more: Man who gave evidence in Regency Trial insists he did not lie to court
Less than an hour later gardai pulled over and arrested Shane Rowan - discovering the three rifles in the boot of the car.
The rifles were later determined by ballistics experts to be the very same ones that were used by the hit-team dressed as fake gardai who burst their way into the Regency Hotel and caused chaos a month before.
Rowan received a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for possession of the firearms and membership of the IRA.
In her judgement, Ms Justice Tara Burns said the court was “satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the three AK47 rifles were moved to Shane Rowan’s Insignia in the elaborate movement of personnel and vehicles which occurred at the Newtown Industrial Estate.
“On the basis of the evidence of the NSU, the Court is further satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Patsy Hutch was centrally involved in this movement of these weapons.”
Ms Justice Burns also said that the court was satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt, on the basis of the evidence, that Patsy asked former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall to “utilise his IRA contacts to seek their assistance to broker a ceasefire with the Kinahans,” immediately prior to the Regency attack.
The court also heard how Patsy Hutch was alleged to have contacted Jonathan Dowdall’s father Patrick the day before the incident - asking him to book a hotel room at the Regency.
Patrick Dowdall ultimately booked that room, and was facilitated in going to the hotel on February 4 by his son - paying for it in cash.
The room was then used by one of the hit-team - the now deceased Strabane native Kevin Murray - the gunman known as ‘Flat Cap.’
Both Patrick and Jonathan Dowdall subsequently pleaded guilty to facilitating the murder of David Byrne by booking that hotel room.
Jonathan Dowdall then later turned State witness - claiming that Gerry Hutch confessed to him in a park days after the murder - that he was one of the gunmen that shot Byrne that day.
However this evidence was ultimately rejected by the judges who found that Dowdall - a convicted torturer and proven liar, could not be trusted.
Further evidence was presented to the court about a garda search on the home of Patsy Hutch on February 25, 2016 - 20 days after the Regency shooting.
During that search gardai discovered an ACT card contained in a jacket that contained a wallet with Patsy’s drivers licence inside.
Ms Justice Tara Burns ultimately ruled that this ACT card was “clearly” another one of the ACT cards that were missing from a pack discovered at a property in Buckingham Village in the inner city.
Buckingham Village was alleged by the State to be the centre of operations for the entire Regency Hotel attack - the place where the convoy of vehicles involved in the incident met up before the incident occurred.
CCTV evidence was shown before the court of the convoy of six vehicles entering and leaving Buckingham Village - which could only be gained access to by these ACT swipe cards.
The footage showed the vehicles, including the silver Ford transit van that contained the hitmen, seemingly travelling together towards the Regency Hotel.
During Jonathan Dowdall’s dramatic evidence in the Hutch trial, he alleged that Patsy Hutch had told him that he was the man driving the van.
He also alleged that Patsy had told him to tell gardai he owned the van - and allegedly assured him that CCTV from Buckingham Village had been deleted.
"I was told the van that was used was parked at Buckingham Village and he [Patsy] got rid of the CCTV because of that reason.
“Some woman was supposed to have got rid of the CCTV, don't know who she is, he [Patsy] told me at the time he got rid of the CCTV cause he drove the van,” Dowdall told the court.
The court heard how Dowdall knew Patsy Hutch for many years - having once given his son Patrick an apprenticeship.
It also heard how he borrowed money from Patsy for his business and how he assisted him in purchasing a commercial vehicle.
Jonathan Dowdall also recommended Patsy for carpet laying work on jobs he worked on.
In secret NSU recordings of Jonathan Dowdall and Gerry Hutch that were played before the court, Gerry Hutch can be heard discussing the movement of the “three yokes”and actions by his brother Patsy.
The three yokes were later found to be a reference to the three AK47 rifles used in the Regency.
In the tape The Monk can be heard saying “that’s why I said to Patsy I wanna
throw them up there to them regardless, it’s a present for them.
“ Even if they do nothing for us, I said you should have done but I says bollocks, I said they should have been sent up last week.”
The judges ultimately found that Gerry Hutch likely had control and possession over the firearms at the time he made those remarks - on March 7, 2016.
But the judges said that was not the charge that Gerry was there to meet - and said there was no evidence to prove the assertion that he was directly involved in the Regency shooting - let alone one of the gunmen who shot and killed David Byrne.
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