AT one time, they were powerful allies — but are now sworn enemies.
In our exclusive image, Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch enjoys a night out in Lanzarote with James ‘Jaws’ Byrne and his wife Sadie in the early part of 2014.
In the years before the snap was taken, the Byrne clan — from Dublin’s south inner city — were regular visitors to The Monk’s favourite holiday destination.
During frequent visits to the Canary Islands, the Byrnes were welcomed into Hutch’s inner circle with open arms.
Unlike other Dublin families who were connected to organised crime, The Monk did not treat the Byrne family with mistrust or suspicion.
Jaws Byrne — described in the High Court as someone who was “synonymous with organised crime” — was treated with respect by his old friend.
But that friendship was shattered when The Monk was charged in 2021 with the murder of Jaws’ youngest son David at the Regency Hotel on February 5, 2016.
Following the ruling at the Special Criminal Court yesterday, former Garda Assistant Commissioner Pat Leahy told how the families were “once the best of friends”.
Dr Leahy said: “I think this photograph is very striking, because it gives us an insight into the type of friendship that these individuals once had.
“Gerry Hutch didn’t go around hugging and laughing with anyone — you had to be trusted to get this close to him.
“The trust was built up over years of knowing each other and having relationships with their friends and relatives. They all knew each other and trusted each other — until they went to war.
“Their relationships will never be the same again and will also be passed to other generations.”
FAMILY FRIENDS
Although their friendship was built over 30 years, Gerry Hutch’s trust for Jaws Byrne was also cemented by the fact his nephew Gary held a senior role in the Kinahan Organised Crime Group.
And when Spanish police had ‘La Organization’ under surveillance between 2008 and 2010, they classified Gary as being Daniel Kinahan’s “right-hand man”.
The secret file — obtained by The Irish Sun — read: “Gary Hutch is just under Daniel Kinahan in the organisation’s hierarchy.
“He is Daniel’s right-hand man and transmits Daniel’s orders to members of a lower rank.
“It can be inferred from telephone tapping and surveillance operations that, as a result of Hutch’s responsibilities within the organisation, he is often in contact with other members of the organisation.
“He always works under Daniel’s orders. He carries out duties as a bodyguard, chauffeur and sometimes simply a messenger for top members.
“He also monitors possible smuggling operations, transfers and stores narcotics, drugs etc.
“The analysis of phone conversations makes it clear we have before us a perfectly hierarchical and structured criminal organisation in which each member, including Gary, has well-defined tasks.”
On another occasion, Gary’s concern for Daniel was highlighted when Spanish cops had recorded Gary telling his boss not to take cocaine because “that s**t is no good, trust me”.
CASH WARS
Although Daniel and Hutch were inseparable during their time in Spain, Christy Kinahan — who had been friends with The Monk for three decades — had less patience for his pal’s nephew.
The secret wiretaps showed how he found Gary to be “hard work” while expressing concerns about his cannabis use.
Intelligence from the covert operation against the mob in Spain also show how “best friends” Gary Hutch and Fat Freddie Thompson had “shared a flat together”.
Hutch’s strong position within the narco-terrorist group meant that he was also close to people like James Quinn, with Spanish police establishing how the pair regularly met to “share prostitutes”.
And like The Monk’s nephew, Jaws’ sons, David and Liam, were also part of the cartel led by ‘The Dapper Don’ and his two sons.
In the years before 2014, Gary Hutch’s childhood friend James ‘Mago’ Gately was also welcomed to Spain.
Due to his connections to Hutch, Gately, who was a promising boxer, regularly trained at the now defunct MGM gym in Marbella.
Our exclusive image shows Gately after winning a fight with his proud trainer, Daniel Kinahan, in his corner.
Other pals of Gary Hutch who had been welcomed into the cartel’s inner circle included north inner city residents Ross Browning and cousins Barry and Gary Finnegan.
Between the years of 2008 and 2013, relationships were good between the younger cartel members. But, like many criminal gangs over the years, loyalties were soon set aside as paranoia, greed and suspicion swept through their ranks.
In February 2014, and despite having no evidence, Hutch was accused of being a “rat” when a €10million cartel shipment of ketamine and cannabis was seized in Cheshire in the UK. And when Daniel and Christopher Kinahan’s mother Jean Boylan was laid to rest in May 2014, graffiti naming Hutch as a Garda informant was painted on a wall in Dublin’s Mount Jerome Cemetery.
In the weeks and months before the graffiti, Hutch had been left frustrated after Daniel failed to return the cash Hutch had invested into the cartel money laundering schemes from a tiger kidnapping.
And when Daniel refused to hand over any cash, Gary vowed to resolve the dispute by recruiting a hitman to murder Daniel outside his pad in Estepona in August 2014.
FRIENDSHIP RUINED
Innocent boxer Jamie Moore was shot in the hip and leg by mistake.
Following the shooting, the special bond between the Hutch and Kinahan clans lay in ruins. In the months that followed, Gary Hutch bolted to Holland where he was protected by associates of his uncle.
In the summer of 2015, a €200,000 compensation package was paid to the Kinahan cartel as the Hutches sought to protect Gary.
But on September 25, 2015, the cartel ignored the pact and had 34 year old Gary shot dead at his apartment block in southern Spain.
His ex-pal, James Quinn, would later be convicted of the murder.
Before the attempted hit on Daniel, Gerry Hutch had been enjoying retirement and was looking forward to life away from organised crime.
But when his nephew was murdered, he knew all bets were off and he would also become a target for the cartel.
That incident happened in December 2015, when cartel killers Eamon Cumberton, from the north inner city, and Christopher Slator, were sent to Lanzarote to kill him.
By this stage, Gary’s old friends from the north inner city, Ross Browning, Barry Finnegan, Gary Finnegan — who was best friends with Eddie’s son Christoper ‘Bouncer’ Hutch who died from an overdose when the pair were growing up — and others had sided with the Kinahans.
As the Monk went into hiding, the only sighting of him here was at his brother Eddie’s funeral in February 2016.
Eddie was shot dead just three days after David Byrne— who had once enjoyed holidays with The Monk — was shot dead at the Regency Hotel in 2016.
The next time The Monk would be seen in Ireland was in 2022 when he went on trial for the murder of his former friend’s son.
