Top Kinahan target Patrick Hutch defied the ongoing threat to his life by appearing at the funeral of his aunt.
Pictures show a masked Patrick, 27, emerging from the front doors of Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Sean McDermott Street in Dublin’s inner city - following the funeral Mass of Tina Moore - a sister of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch.
This is the first time Patrick has been seen in public since he walked free from the Special Criminal Court in Dublin in February 2019 - when his trial for the Regency Hotel murder of David Byrne dramatically collapsed.
We observed Patrick, dressed in a suit and tie and wearing a pink lapel given to mourners, standing around and chatting with friends and family among a large crowd in the inner city on Thursday.
Despite the fact that the Kinahans remain determined to murder Patrick, the youngster, who is a nephew of ‘The Monk’ stood around for several minutes - and was seen chatting with his cousin Ross Hutch outside the church.
Patrick was one of very few mourners seen wearing a mask - as he appeared to try and hide his face as best he could as he moved through the large crowd outside.
Earlier his father Patsy - who is also a key target of the Kinahan cartel, was seen carrying the coffin of his sister Tina into the church - along with her close family and friends.
However, Patsy did not remain at the church for long after the funeral - and was seen getting into the back of a car shortly after the private ceremony concluded.
Recently released Ross Hutch, who has also previously been warned of threats to his life, was also at the church, alongside cousin Jonathan Hutch - who survived an attempt on his life in Majorca in August 2016.
Gardai formed a discreet ring of steel around the service on Thursday, as the body of Ms Hutch Moore was brought to Glasnevin Cemetery.
Sources say gardai believe Patrick Hutch has not been living in Dublin, and would have briefly travelled to the capital - defying the threat to his life - for the funeral.
Despite the violence in the Kinahan Hutch feud appearing to die down, gardai believe that tensions remain high - especially as a European Arrest Warrant has been issued for ‘The Monk,’ - who stayed away from the funeral.
He is believed to have fled his bolthole in Lanzarote just 48 hours before gardai got the green light to carry out that warrant.
Officers want to arrest The Monk in relation to the Regency Hotel murder of Kinahan cartel associate David Byrne, who was shot dead in the lobby on February 5, 2016.
Patrick Hutch spent almost two years in prison awaiting trial for that murder - but in February 2019 the trial dramatically collapsed, following the tragic death of the lead investigator on the case.
Hutch had been accused of being a gun-wielding man dressed in drag who accompanied three gunmen dressed in Swat-style Garda uniforms and dissident republican Kevin Murray — nicknamed ‘Flat Cap’ after the hat he wore.
During his trial notes written by the late Det Superintendent Colm Fox were handed into the court and read by the three judges.
The court was subsequently told a report into the death of Det Supt Fox was being prepared.
This report concerned the analysis of electronic data — a mobile phone, two USB devices and a laptop computer.
The trial had already stalled shortly after opening in January 2018, following legal argument over how Patrick Hutch was identified as the gunman dressed as a woman from press photographs.
Two detectives — Fergal O’Flaherty and Jonathan Brady — said they did so separately after being brought to a room at Ballymun Garda Station in the presence of Det Sgt Patrick O’Toole and Garda Michael Ryan
But the defence claimed they had made the ID in each other’s presence, which could compromise their view.
Judge Tony Hunt ruled against the defence and allowed the identification.
But the defence then requested disclosure of emails between the four gardai - and three days after that, lead investigator Det Supt Colm Fox was found dead in tragic circumstances at Ballymun Garda Station.
The bloody Kinahan Hutch feud has claimed 18 lives since the murder of Patrick’s brother Gary in Spain in September 2015.
His murder sparked an attempt by the Kinahan cartel to murder Gerry Hutch in Lanzarote later that year - but the hit team missed him by seconds.
The Hutch gang then struck back with the unprecedented Regency attack - with two men dressed as gardai and armed with AK-47 rifles storming the building during a boxing weigh-in event - looking for mob boss Daniel Kinahan.
Separately a man dressed in drag and since deceased Republican Kevin Murray also entered the hotel, armed with handguns.
When the hit team failed to find Kinahan, who fled the scene, they turned their attention to his associates - cornering David Byrne in the lobby of the hotel and shooting him dead.
That daring hit sparked a series of vicious revenge murders from the Kinahan cartel - with a hit team brutally murdering taximan Eddie Hutch - a brother of The Monk - outside his home in the inner city, just three days later.
They would go on to murder several more men - including Hutch’s nephews Gareth and Derek - as well as associates Noel ‘Duck Egg’ Kirwan and Noel ‘Kingsize’ Duggan.
Several attempts were made to murder his brother Patsy Hutch, but they failed dramatically thanks to the efforts of gardai, who have now put away several Kinahan cartel hitmen and associates.
The Monk meanwhile fled Ireland, and has hopped around from Lanzarote to the Netherlands and Turkey.
However, his family remain targets of a ruthless and murderous cartel headed by Daniel Kinahan, who is himself holed up in the city of Dubai.
