Derek Hutch gets suspended sentence for robbery with fake-gun

A man has been given a suspended sentence for holding up a Spar shop with an imitation firearm.

Derek Hutch, a first cousin of the Gary Hutch, whose family are involved in a feud with the Kinahan crime gang, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of an imitation firearm and robbery of the Spar shop on Styles Road, Clontarf on June 11th, 2015.

A sentence hearing in December 2016 was told that Hutch (27), of Liberty House, Dublin, had made great strides in treating his drug addiction. Judge Patricia Ryan placed him under probation supervision for nearly a year to see if had truly reformed.

Sentencing Hutch on Friday, Judge Ryan said he had made “trojan efforts” in rehabilitating himself and has remained drug-free. She said the court had also received a “most favourable” probation report and positive reports from the drug treatment centre he attended.

Judge Ryan noted that Hutch had not come to the attention of gardaí­ since the offence and was now focused on his family. She handed down a four-year sentence and suspended it on a number of conditions.

Defence counsel, Luigi Rea BL, previously told the court that Hutch was addicted to drugs and comes from an area which is “blighted” by addiction. He told Judge Ryan, “Mr Hutch and his family have difficulties that we all know about that we don’t have to go into here.”

Hutch has nine previous convictions, including three for theft. He has no previous convictions for firearm offences.

Gun robbery

During the raid, Hutch and accomplice Christopher Coakley held a gun to the head of the shop manager and demanded the code for the alarm.

Gardaí­caught them in an empty house near the scene of the robbery a few hours later. They were trying to hide the notes and coins they had taken.

Garda John Fitzgerald told prosecuting counsel, Marie Torrens BL, that Hutch and another man escaped with about €1,215. A short time later Garda Fitzgerald was searching nearby when he noticed a brick which looked like it had been used to gain entry to a building.

He looked inside and found the men trying to hide a large number of coins. They were arrested but Hutch refused to answer questions during interview. About €700 was recovered by gardaí.

In 2015, Hutch’s co-accused, Coakley (25) of Belvedere Place, Dublin was jailed for six years for the robbery and other unrelated offences.

That sentencing hearing was told the men got in under the shutters of the shop and “floored” the manager before dragging her down the aisles demanding the keys.The woman was continually held by the neck and dragged as the robbers demanded that she get them the safe.