A 39-YEAR-OLD woman has been sent forward for trial to the Special Criminal Court accused of the murder of Gareth Hutch, who was shot dead outside his home in Dublin.
Father-of-one Gareth Hutch (35), a nephew of Gerry ‘the Monk’ Hutch, was gunned down getting into his car outside Avondale House flats, on North Cumberland Street in inner city Dublin on the morning of 24 May last year.
His death came during a series of killings in the feud between Hutch and Kinahan gangs.
Mother-of-five Regina Keogh from Kings Inn Street, Dublin, was remanded in custody after she was charged, and appeared at Dublin District Court on 11 June last. Garda Sergeant Enda O’Sullivan had said she replied:
I didn’t do it. I didn’t murder anybody.
At that hearing, her solicitor had asked for the accused to be seen by a doctor as she was on a lot of medication. The case had been adjourned on two further occasions over the past seven weeks for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to be obtained.
Evidence book
She made her fourth district court appearance and was served with a book of evidence by Garda Sergeant O’Sullivan.
Judge Kathryn Hutton was told the DPP has been granted a certificate under Section 42.2 of the Offences Against the State Act to direct that Keogh is to be sent forward for trial at a sitting of the non-jury Special Criminal Court
A State solicitor said that the DPP directed that in this case, “the ordinary courts are not effective for the administration of justice”.
Dressed in black trousers, jacket, top and shoes, Keogh sat silently on the defendant’s bench leafing through the book of evidence as the latest development in her case was outlined to the judge.
Judge Hutton granted the DPP’s request for Keogh to be returned for trial to the Special Criminal Court and warned her that she must inform the prosecution within 14 days if she intends to use an alibi in her defence. An order was made for disclosure of video evidence to Keogh’s legal team.
Judge Hutton agreed to defence solicitor Emer O’Sullivan’s request to grant legal aid for junior and senior counsel to represent her client.
Bail in murder cases can only be granted by the High Court. She was further remanded in custody pending her next court hearing date, which has yet to be allocated.
Arrest
The UK’s National Crime Agency, in conjunction with An Garda Siochana and the London Metropolitan Police, arrested her 31-year-old brother Jonathan Keogh on 10 June in the Romford area of Essex in the UK on foot of a European Arrest warrant.
The arrest was made in relation to the investigation into the murder of Gareth Hutch. He remains in custody pending extradition proceedings.
Their brother Michael Keogh was shot dead on 31 May as he sat in a car after leaving his flat at Sheridan Court in Dublin’s north inner city.
In February, 30-year-old Thomas Fox, who has an address at Rutland Court in north inner city Dublin, was also sent forward for trial to the Special Criminal Court. He is also accused of the murder of Gareth Hutch.
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