Man jailed for life for murder of The Monk's nephew Gerard Hutch

A man with 105 previous convictions, was jailed for life for the murder of Gareth Hutch in May 2016.

The mother of Gareth Hutch has told the Special Criminal Court that her son's murder in an ambush outside his home over eight years ago, was "a violent and callous crime with no value or thought given for a life".

Vera Hutch said her son was "senselessly and cruelly taken" from her family in May 2016, tearing her life apart and changing their world "forever".

Mr Justice Alexander Owens sentenced Thomas 'Nicky' McConnell to the mandatory term of life imprisonment.

"Standing here in front of you today with my life torn apart, our world changed forever. Losing Gareth has caused my heart and all our families hearts to be broken, nothing can ever repair the emptiness that his death has caused," Vera Hutch said.

McConnell has 105 previous convictions including those for assault, threatening to kill and causing serious harm as well as possession of knives.

McConnell (39) of Sillogue Gardens, Ballymun, Dublin 11 had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Gareth Hutch (36) on May 24, 2016 at Avondale House, North Cumberland Street, Dublin 1.

He is the fourth person to be convicted of the murder.

In November 2018 the Special Criminal Court found Regina Keogh (47) of Cumberland St North, Dublin 1, Jonathan Keogh (39) with an address at Gloucester Place, Dublin 1 and Thomas Fox (32) with an address at Rutland Court, Dublin 1 guilty of the murder of Mr Hutch.

McConnell's trial began in 2023 but was postponed for 16 months, firstly when one of the judges was unable to continue and then as the court awaited a Supreme Court ruling in a separate case.

McConnell's trial continued after the Supreme Court found in that case that traffic and location data relating to mobile phones could be used as evidence, even though the data was harvested using a now-invalidated law.

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The trial heard that McConnell and Jonathan Keogh used an apartment opposite Gareth Hutch's home as a lookout spot and when Mr Hutch emerged from his front door, they followed him and shot him dead.

Mary McDonnell, who lived at the lookout apartment, told the trial in June 2023 that she could identify Jonathan Keogh because she had known him for many years but she did not know the second man.

In reaching its verdict, the court relied on further lies told by the accused and emails on a phone linked to McConnell which showed he had an "intimate knowledge of the murder".