Two arrested in connection with Gareth Hutch killing

Two people have been arrested in connection with the murder of Gareth Hutch.

The two were arrested on Thursday night.

Mr Hutch (35), a father-of-one, was killed close to his flat at Avondale House, North Cumberland Street, Dublin 1 on Tuesday.

They are being detained under the provisions of Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 as amended at Bridewell and Store Street Garda stations.

There are now a total of three people in custody in relation to this murder.

Separately, a man has been arrested in connection with the killing of Michael Barr at the Sunset House, Summerhill, Dublin 1, on April 25th.

The man in his mid-30s was arrested on Friday morning and is being detained at Bridewell Garda station.

Barr (35) is believed to have been killed by Kinahan gang gunmen looking to shoot a Hutch family member in the pub at the time.

He was a dissident republican who was suspected of helping to source AK47s used in the Regency attack when David Byrne was killed in February.

Detained

A 29-year-old man has been in custody in relation to the killing of Mr Hutch at Mountjoy Garda Station since Tuesday evening after he was detained under the provisions of section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act.

It is believed the man presented himself to gardaí after Tuesday’s murder because he feared he would be shot dead when people saw detectives searching his house after the killing.

The man claimed he was not involved in the murder but effectively engineered his arrest for questioning to avoid being attacked in revenge.

He can be detained for up to seven days under anti-gang legislation.

Mr Hutch was the seventh person killed, and the third member of his family, in the Kinahan-Hutch feud which began last September.

A taxi driver, he had previously been charged in connection with an armed robbery in which an accomplice was shot dead by a garda but he was not regarded as a major gang figure.

This morning a Garda chief superintendent from Dublin’s north inner city said he is “absolutely confident” the killers of Mr Hutch would be caught.

Chief Supt Pat Leahy told an emergency meeting of Dublin City Council’s joint policing committee the murders had come at the end of a very successful five-year period for the north inner city community, and the garda in tackling drugs.

Chief Supt Leahy said there had been 3,000 Garda checkpoints and 1,800 street searches in connection with the feud.