A CLEAN-CUT Gerry Hutch attended tonight’s homecoming for Olympic hero Kellie Harrington.
The gangster, known as ‘The Monk’, was snapped in the crowd waiting for proceedings to begin in Dublin city centre on Monday evening.
Wearing a white and green striped shirt and blue jeans, the crime kingpin smiled and laughed with onlookers in the crowd ahead of the ceremony.
Hutch was one of the founding members of the boxing club Corinthians, where Kellie later started training as a child.
And he would have been looking on as Kellie wiped away tears during her homecoming in Dublin tonight.
Overcome by emotion, the two-time champ walked down her home area of Portland Row this evening to a rapturous reception.
The 34-year-old won a second consecutive gold medal at Roland Garros earlier this week and was greeted on Monday night by a specially-organised homecoming in Dublin 1.
Hutch was previously spotted watching Kellie’s semi-final win on a big screen in Dublin.
Wearing a short-sleeved shirt and looking tanned, he chatted with some of the other 800-odd fans at Diamond Park in Dublin 1 on Saturday, August 3.
He described the win, which propelled Kellie into the final, as “fabulous for the local community” and said at the time: “Kellie was a special kid, always was, and I hope she gets gold, but win, lose or draw, we all have her back.”
Hutch was found not guilty of the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in February 2016 by three judges at the Special Criminal Court and was freed from jail in October last year.
Last week, John Gilligan said he was delighted that The Monk was acquitted – because he “isn’t a rat”.
The convicted drug dealer and former mob boss, 72, also told Hot Press magazine he wished his fellow gangster well.
Gilligan said he was “a million per cent” happy his fellow crook Gerry got off following the high-profile trial.
He said: “I wish him well. I knew him many years ago.
“The Hutch family was always known as a staunch criminal family. They were no rats, they were against the police. I always respected them for that. And when I learned later about the Kinahans, the same.”