Cousin told gardaí 'it’s the f**king feud' after finding Gareth Hutch dead, court told

The three-judge court also viewed footage of the moment Mr Hutch was shot a number of times after he was accosted by two gunmen in the car park close to his home at Avondale House.

Two men can be seen running to a nearby car after shots are fired and Gareth Hutch is seen falling to the ground. Ross Hutch arrives on the scene moments later and footage shows him chasing after the men as they flee through a pedestrian exit in the car park.

Gardaí who attended the scene on the day told the non-jury court that a large crowd of up to 50 people gathered at the scene following the shooting and the situation was “volatile” with many of those present shouting abuse at gardaí.

The court heard when members of the force arrived on the scene Ross Hutch told them “do your job” and when a garda asked what had happened he replied: “It’s the f**king feud”.

Thomas McConnell (37) of Sillogue Gardens, Ballymun, Dublin 11 has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Gareth Hutch (36) on May 24, 2016, at Avondale House, North Cumberland Street, Dublin 1.

Opening the case for the State last week, Fiona Murphy SC told the non-jury court the evidence will show that Thomas McConnell was one of the two gunmen who approached and shot Gareth Hutch just metres from his north Dublin home shortly before 10am that morning.

Witness testimony

Witness Neville Mills told Ms Murphy his flat overlooks North Cumberland Street and shortly before 10am on the morning of May 24, 2016, he heard “a commotion” and Ross Hutch “clutching his head” and “roaring”. Mr Mills confirmed to Ms Murphy he also saw two men running out the pedestrian gate and turning left onto Sean McDermott Street and Ross Hutch running after them.

Mr Mills said he got dressed and went down to the scene where he saw Gareth Hutch lying on the ground with bullet holes in his body. He said a neighbour handed him a sheet and he put it over Mr Hutch’s body.

The witness said he saw a gun on the ground in the middle of the car park and another gun under the wheel of a car. The gun had a “big silver silencer”, he said, and the other gun looked the same. Mr Mills confirmed to Ms Murphy he also noticed cartridges on the ground.

Robert Larkin told Ms Murphy he had been at the Social Welfare Office on North Cumberland Street on day of the shooting. He confirmed to counsel he had been standing in the queue outside the office shortly after 10am when he heard the sound of five or six gunshots which he at first thought sounded like fireworks going off one after the other.

Mr Larkin said he turned around and saw two men running away from the scene.

He agreed with Ms Murphy that in his statement at the time he had said one of the two men appeared to be a big guy, about five feet nine inches tall, wearing a blue and grey tracksuit top, with broad shoulders and black hair and had his face covered with what appeared to be a motorbike scarf. He said he couldn’t recall much about the second man.

He said he saw the two men get into a car before another car quickly arrived in the car park. Mr Larkin confirmed to prosecuting counsel that a man, later identified as Ross Hutch, got out of the car, looked down at the man lying on the ground between two cars and was screaming something like “Oh, no, no, no”.

'Volatile situation'

The witness said he could see the man who had been shot clearly and he was lying face down on the ground. Mr Larkin said by that stage people were coming out of the flat complex, he could hear women screaming and there was “a lot of commotion”.

Detective Garda Amy Collins said she was on duty on the morning of May 24, 2016, and was dispatched to the scene of the shooting, arriving at around 10am. She said her colleague stood beside one of the guns while she directed people in the area. She said the area was “very busy” and it was a “very volatile situation” with people moving in different directions.

A man approached her to say there was another gun beside a vehicle and she went over to inspect it. She said she noticed the engine of a BMW car running and the door was slightly open. The Det. Gda said she stayed by the handgun and directed people away from the evidence.

Asked by Ms Murphy what she meant by describing the situation as volatile, the garda said people were “shouting abuse at us”.

In his evidence to the three-judge court, Garda Richard Cullen also told how a crowd of about 50 people were present at the scene and he assisted in keeping the crowd back while the crime scene was preserved. He said a lot of people in the crowd were shouting and “roaring and screaming”.

He told Ms Murphy that Ross Hutch was shouting abuse and pointed over at the body. When asked what happened, Mr Hutch replied: “Do your job”. When he again asked Mr Hutch what happened, he said: “It’s the f**king feud”.

A report from Dr Marie Cassidy, who carried out the post mortem on Gareth Hutch, was read into the record on Monday by Ms Murphy. In the report, she noted Mr Hutch died as a result of four gunshot wounds, two to back of his neck, one to his lower back and one to his front of his upper chest. The cause of death was recorded as multiple gunshot injuries.

The trial continues on Tuesday before Mr Justice Alex Owens, Judge Elma Sheahan and Judge David McHugh.