Major security implications following Hutch murder in west Dublin

Gardaí are set to put a major security operation in place for the funeral of Derek Coakley-Hutch who was shot dead near Cloverhill Prison, west Dublin, at the weekend.

Security is also expected to be stepped up around the Criminal Courts of Justice in central Dublin on Monday where the trial of Patrick Hutch, for a Kinahan-Hutch feud-related murder is under way.

He is accused at the Special Criminal Court of the shooting dead of David Byrne in the Regency Hotel, north Dublin, in February, 2016.

Coakley-Hutch’s killing, in a well-planned gun attack, is believed to be linked to the feud, which has claimed 14 lives.

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The dead man is the fourth member of his family to be killed since his cousin Gary Hutch was shot dead in Spain in the first feud murder in September 2015.

Gardaí are concerned the killing may lead to a fresh round of attacks after a period of relative calm in the feud.

Coakley-Hutch’s funeral arrangements are being security assessed, with a major policing operation planned.

Garda sources said the men who carried out Saturday afternoon’s murder had very specific information on their target’s movements and most likely had him under surveillance for some time.

At risk

In recent Garda searches electronic tracker devices, that could be secretly attached to vehicles, have been found. The Garda has not discounted the possibility a tracker was used on the car Coakley-Hutch was travelling in.

Though he had at least 10 criminal convictions he was not a major gangland figure. However, because he was a member of the Hutch family he was a target in the feud and was one of a large number of people notified by the Garda that their lives were at risk.

The 27-year-old father of four had been spared a prison sentence last November after he was convicted for his role in an armed robbery at a shop in Clontarf, north Dublin, in which an imitation firearm was used.

The full four-year prison term was suspend when the court was told of a glowing probation report and the efforts he had made to address his drugs habit.

It is understood he had gone to Cloverhill Prison on Saturday to visit a relative. Gardaí believe he may have returned to the area to throw drugs over the perimeter wall from the Bridgeview halting site.

Supt John Gordon of Lucan Garda station said the victim and the two men he was with were travelling in a white Toyota Aygo, with a 12D registration.

When it pulled into the halting site at about 3pm the men Coakley-Hutch was with got out of the car and went to an area of the site where a number of horses are kept in a pen.

Supt Gordon said the two men heard “a number of loud shots or bangs”. They ran back to the car, which had moved a short distance, and found Coakley-Hutch injured.

Gardaí arrived within minutes and tried to revive him.

Two vehicles

A black VW Golf, 05-CE-1675 , seen leaving the area, was found on fire at nearby Crag Avenue, at an industrial estate, soon after the shooting. Gardaí believe it had been used by the killers.

Just before 6.30pm a black Toyota Avensis, 04-D-72956, was found burnt out on the north side of Dublin; at Snowdrop Walk, Darndale, in an area known locally as the "peace line".

“We are requesting the public’s assistance to help us locate the movement of those vehicles,” Supt Gordon said.

“In particular those people who may have dashcams, or who may have seen the movement of the vehicles prior to 3pm yesterday afternoon and up until 6.25pm or thereafter at Snowdrop Walk in Darndale,” he added.

Garda sources said the killing had all the hallmarks of a well-planned attack, adding the victim was most likely being watched for some time.

Coakley-Hutch was a nephew of Gerry Hutch, the veteran north inner city Dublin criminal known as The Monk.

Another uncle, Eddie Hutch, as well as two cousins – Gary and Gareth – have been shot dead as part of the Kinahan-Hutch feud.

All of the murders, bar two, in the Kinahan-Hutch feud have been carried out by the Kinahan side.

Coakley-Hutch’s father, Derek, died by suicide nine years ago. His mother Noeleen was awarded €28,000 by the courts last Friday in a personal injuries payment following a car accident in 2014.