Hundreds of lines of inquiry pursued but no charges over 2018 murder of Derek Coakley Hutch

More than 450 lines of inquiry have been pursued during the Garda investigation into the murder of Derek Coakley Hutch in Dublin 4½ years ago, but nobody has been charged, an inquest has heard.

The 27-year-old, a father of two and nephew of Gerry “The Monk” Hutch, was fatally shot while sitting in a car on the Bridgeview halting site in Clondalkin on January 20th, 2018.

Coroner Dr Cróna Gallagher told a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court that full details of the Garda investigation would not be heard as it remained live and she did not want to possibly prejudice any future criminal proceedings.

Det Insp Niamh Molloy told the inquest that at around 3pm Mr Hutch, of Buckingham Street in Dublin 1, and two other men arrived at the site on the Cloverhill Road in a car.

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The other men got out and another vehicle then pulled up alongside the car in which Mr Hutch was sitting and shots were fired, the court heard. Members of the emergency services arrived within minutes of the alarm being raised but Mr Hutch was pronounced dead at the scene. Det Insp Molloy said the vehicle used by the attackers was found burnt out a short distance away.

The inquest heard that gardaí had followed up 451 different lines of inquiry as part of the investigation into the murder, with 340 statements taken and some 400 exhibits collected. Det Insp Molloy said a CCTV system captured both vehicles entering the halting site but the “grainy” quality of the pictures did not allow any individuals in the cars to be identified.

Det Insp Molloy said the two men who arrived with Mr Hutch were “doing something else” at the time of the shooting and no eyewitnesses had been found despite it being a “pretty populated” area. She said a file had been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to two individuals, but it was decided that no criminal prosecutions should follow.

Mark Toner, a paramedic who provided emergency aid to the victim, said Mr Hutch suffered multiple traumatic injuries to his head and a major loss of blood. Efforts to resuscitate Mr Hutch ceased after 10 minutes when he showed no signs of life and he was formally pronounced dead at 5.08pm, he said.

Chief State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan said a postmortem found that at least three shots had been fired at Mr Hutch. She said there were three separate wounds to the head which had caused significant injuries to the victim’s skull and brain that were “incompatible with life”.

Dr Mulligan said toxicology tests found no alcohol or drugs in Mr Hutch’s body.

She confirmed that the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds to the head. She estimated that the shots were fired from a distance of one to two metres. The pathologist said any of the wounds could have been fatal and death would have been “instant”.

A jury of five women and one man returned a verdict of unlawful death by a person or persons unknown.

Mr Hutch is believed to have been the 14th victim of the gangland feud between the Hutch and Kinahan criminal organisations, which began when his cousin, Gary Hutch, was shot dead in Spain in 2015.