A court in Dublin has found Gerry Hutch, aka ‘The Monk’, not guilty of 2016’s Regency Hotel shooting, an attack on a boxing weigh-in show that resulted in the death of David Byrne. Irish authorities believe that this attack was part of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud and that the target of the attack was Daniel Kinahan. Kinahan, alleged leader of the Kinahan Organized Crime Group and founder of the now defunct MTK Global boxing and MMA empire, fled to Dubai after the shooting.
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Gerry Hutch was captured in Spain
Hutch, who was arrested in Spain in 2021, was on trial for 52 days at Ireland’s non-jury Special Criminal Court, according to Sky News. That outlet reports that Ms Justice Tara Burns delivered her verdict after expressing there was “a reasonable possibility” that the Regency Hotel shooting, which saw masked gunmen storm the hotel during a boxing weigh-in show, was planned by Hutch’s brother Patsy Hutch. The prosecution could not prove that Hutch was one of the six gunmen who took part in the shooting.
Two others who were on trial with Hutch, Paul Murphy and Jason Bonney, were found guilty of facilitating Byrne’s murder. Specifically, they were found to have provided a motor vehicle that was used in the shooting.
Jonathan Dowdall, a former Dublin city councillor, plead guilty to facilitating Byrne’s murder and received four-year prison sentence. Dowdall gave evidence as a prosecution witness.
The Regency Hotel shooting was one of many attacks between 2015 and 2020 that have been attributed to the Hutch-Kinahan feud. At least 18 individuals have been killed in Ireland and Spain in those incidents.
The killing of Gerry Hutch’s nephew started the Hutch-Kinahan feud
The feud began in 2015 when Gerry Hutch’s nephew Gary Hutch was killed by suspected Kinahan operatives in Spain. Irish media reported that, after the killing, alleged Kinahan founder Christy Kinahan tried to arrange a sitdown with Hutch to ensure there would be no further bloodshed.
After Hutch reportedly refused to meet there were a spate of killings of Hutch family members. In January 2016 Hutch himself escaped an assassination attempt in Lanzarote, Spain after he left a pub minutes before masked gunmen arrived.
The Regency Hotel attack happened one month later, supposedly targeting Daniel Kinahan, the son of Christy Kinahan and alleged day-to-day operator of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group. David Byrne, who was the only fatality in that attack, was alleged to be a top lieutenant in the Kinahan organization.
Daniel Kinahan tightened his grip on boxing after the Regency Hotel Shooting
Immediately after the Regency Hotel attack Kinahan increased his presence in boxing. Shortly after the shooting MTK rebranded itself and claimed to have no involvement with Kinahan. The company signed top boxing talents like Tyson Fury, Billy Joe Saunders and Carl Frampton. MTK’s MMA division signed Darren Till, Mounir Lazzez, Aleksandar Rakic and many other UFC fighters.
Despite MTK claiming Kinahan was not involved in the company Fury, Till and others continued to express their fondness for the alleged mob boss. Fury and Till were both pictured with Kinahan in Dubai.
In 2020 Fury released a video on social media where he thanked Kinahan for securing a two-fight deal for him to box Anthony Joshua. The revelation that Kinahan had been personally involved in booking Fury’s fights lead to a backlash against Fury and MTK, which included Ireland’s then Head of State calling on broadcasters to boycott Fury fights.
This lead to Fury and his US promoter Bob Arum claiming they would no longer work with Kinahan. Kinahan also lost his advisor role with Bahrain-royalty owned KHK Sports.
Daniel Kinahan is now wanted by the US government
Last year the U.S. government sanctioned Kinahan and offered a $5 million reward for information that lead to his capture, prosecution and conviction. MTK declared it would no longer operate due to the sanctions.
The U.S. also issued sanctions and travel bans against known associates of Kinahan, including Fury. The travel bans were why Tyson Fury’s younger brother Tommy Fury was unable to travel to the US and fight Jake Paul last year, leading to their eventual bout in Saudi Arabia.
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