Gardaí investigating Gsoc official over Hutch party to interview former colleagues

Gardaí investigating a former member of the Garda Sióchána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) who claimed he attended a party with Gerard Hutch will use the results of interviews with some of his former colleagues and other people not linked to the organisation as part of their file to be sent to the DPP on the case.

The investigation is trying to establish if information held by Gsoc was disclosed to Gerard Hutch or any of his associates. Like gardaí, it is illegal for members of Gsoc to disclose information they obtain through work “if the disclosure is likely to have a harmful effect”.

The man under investigation has been living in Dublin for some time but is from abroad and came to the Republic a number of years ago specifically to work for Gsoc. Now that he has resigned from the Garda watchdog it is anticipated he may return to his home country and is free to do so even though he is under investigation.

The inquiry into him began last week after it emerged he had told Gsoc colleagues he attended a party held for Gerard Hutch on the day he was acquitted of the 2016 Regency Hotel murder of David Byrne. Some of his colleagues were concerned and raised the issue with more senior personnel.

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The man was asked about what he had said and was informed an internal inquiry was being commenced, during which he would be suspended, while his phone would also be examined. The man decided to resign from his position as a Gsoc senior investigator.

Gsoc then compiled a report for Minister for Justice Simon Harris and also referred the matter on to the Garda to examine if a criminal inquiry was required. After several days what effectively began as a Garda scoping exercise was upgraded to a criminal investigation. A search was carried out at a house in Dublin last Thursday, and a man arrested, though he was later released without charge.

The National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI) is trying to establish if information known to the former Gsoc investigator through his work was passed to anyone in the Hutch family. They are examining the possibility information was passed, or an offer of information made, either directly to Hutch family members or through a third party while Gerard Hutch was charged with the Byrne murder.

However, sources stressed no findings of any wrongdoing had been reached against the former Gsoc investigator, adding the inquiry was ongoing and would be informed by a variety of evidence.

This included the responses the former investigator made when spoken to by gardaí and the statements given by other people, who are witnesses rather than falling under suspicion themselves. The suspect’s phone has also been examined by the Garda, while his computer, and his account on the Gsoc system have been undergoing examination as part of the ongoing criminal investigation.

When working as a Gsoc investigator the man had access to the Garda’s PULSE database, on which details about cases, including the 2016 Regency attack, are stored.

The investigation is the second inquiry begun by the force into suspicions Gerard Hutch was offered or received confidential information held by the Garda. The first inquiry is completely unrelated to the investigation started last week into the former Gsoc official. The first investigation began in 2021 and it is focused on the allegation Gerard Hutch was directing a crime gang and securing confidential information from within the Garda as part of those alleged activities.

Both Gerard Hutch and former Garda superintendent John Murphy, currently serving a sentence for possessing cannabis at his home in Clontarf, Dublin, in 2021, have been questioned as part of that inquiry in the last year. Gardaí became suspicious Gerard Hutch had insider information when he appeared to leave his home in Lanzarote in early 2021 as gardaí were about to request Spanish police detain him under a European arrest warrant.