A “RUTHLESS and dangerous criminal” who fired a number of shots at a brother of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch has been jailed for 22 years.
Michael Carroll, 43, of Bride Street, Dublin 8, fired “indiscriminately” at John Hutch as he arrived at their house in Drumalee Avenue with his wife Vera.
He also tried to assassinate another Hutch relative, Edward Staunton, some six months after that.
Carroll was originally charged with the attempted murder of John Hutch, who was 63 at the time in a shooting at his Drumalee Avenue home, on the North Circular Road, Dublin 7, on September 2, 2016.
Last March, Carroll – who was extradited from the UK in April, 2022 – instead pleaded guilty to a new charge of having in his possession or control a firearm with intent to endanger life, contrary to Section 15 of the Firearms Act, at Drumalee Avenue on the same date.
John Hutch passed away following an accident in his home in 2019.
Carroll was also charged with twice attempting to murder Staunton on the night of March 26, 2017 at James Joyce Street, Dublin 1 and again at Peadar Kearney House, Railway St, Dublin 1.
In that attack, the gunman ran over his victim in a car – knocking him into the air – before tracking the victim down and shooting him twice as he lay on the ground awaiting help.
However, at the three-judge court last March, Carroll pleaded guilty to one of those two; the attempted murder of Staunton at Railway Street on March 26, 2017.
This morning at the three judge Special Criminal Court, presiding Judge Tony Hunt described Carroll as ”a ruthless and dangerous criminal with a callous contempt for public safety”.
‘DELIBERATE PLAN’
He added that it was clear that the accused had a “deliberate plan to murder a particular target” and described to CCTV of the attempt on Staunton as “chilling”.
The court heard Carroll knew the Kinahan Organised Crime Group was offering money to target members of the Hutch gang following the murder of Kinahan gang member David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in February 2016.
He also wanted to “ingratiate himself” with the Kinahan Byrne gang in Dublin.
Carroll first tried to shoot John Hutch, Gerry Hutch’s older brother, on September 2, 2016.
He had previously put a tracker on John Hutch’s car and arrived with two guns, firing at his target who ran into his back garden and shut the gate.
His wife Vera was with him in the car at the time.
Six months later he targeted a known Hutch gang associate Edward Staunton. He ran him over, knocking him in the air and shot him as he lay on the ground.
Staunton survived, Carroll fled the country but was extradited and pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court.
Today Mr Justice Tony Hunt sentenced Carroll to 10-and-a-half years for the Hutch shooting and 14 years for the attempted murder of Eddie Staunton, with two-and-a half years suspended to allow for rehabilitation, a total jail sentence of 22 years.
At the sentencing hearing in May, Vera Hutch’s victim impact statement said that the incident never leaves her mind, that she thinks about it all the time and that “everything stopped” for her that day.
