Man arrested over Eddie Hutch killing released

File to be prepared for DPP in case of 2016 north inner city shooting

Gardaí at the scene of the shooting of Eddie Hutch at Poplar Row, North Strand, Dublin, in 2016. Photograph: Eric Luke / The Irish Times
Gardaí at the scene of the shooting of Eddie Hutch at Poplar Row, North Strand, Dublin, in 2016. Photograph: Eric Luke / The Irish Times

A man who was arrested in recent days in connection with the shooting of Eddie Hutch, the brother of Gerard ‘The Monk’ Hutch, in 2016, has been released without charge.

Eddie Hutch (59) was shot dead at his home on Poplar Row in the north inner city on February 8th, 2016.

The father of five had worked as a taxi driver, with gardaí believing he was targeted because he was a member of the Hutch family, as the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud began to significantly escalate in early 2016.

A Garda spokeswoman on Saturday confirmed a man, who was in his 40s and had been arrested on Thursday and questioned over the shooting, had been released without charge.

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A file is to be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions in the case, the spokeswoman said.

Although known to gardaí, Eddie Hutch was linked to mostly minor crimes and was not a gangland figure. He was not regarded as being violent or criminally active.

The killing is thought to have been carried out in retaliation for the deadly Regency Hotel attack days earlier, in which Kinahan associate David Byrne was killed.

Mr Hutch was an uncle of Gary Hutch (34), who was shot dead on September 24th, 2015 at an apartment block near Marbella in Spain, a killing which is believed to have been the catalyst for the feud.

Jack Power

Jack Power

Jack Power is acting Europe Correspondent of The Irish Times