A “RUTHLESS” GUNMAN who emptied a revolver at a brother of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch before later “running amok” in Dublin city centre as he tried to murder another man has been jailed by the Special Criminal Court for 22 years.
Sentencing Michael Carroll at the non-jury court today, presiding judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt said that the defendant was “clearly a ruthless and dangerous” gunman, who has a “callous contempt for public safety”.
He said Carroll had made two deliberate attempts to murder Edward Staunton and that this offence had been aggravated by the recent commission of the serious firearm offence on John Hutch, in which the CCTV footage shown to the court could only be described as “terrifying”.
Michael Carroll, who the court previously heard had wanted to ingratiate himself with the Kinahan cartel, has 58 previous convictions which include six robbery and three theft offences as well as convictions for drug offences and possession of knives.
Carroll (43), of Bride Street, Dublin 8 was originally charged with the attempted murder of John Hutch, who was then 63 years-old but has since passed away, in a shooting at his Drumalee Avenue home, on the North Circular Road, Dublin 7, on 2 September 2016.
Last March, Carroll – who was extradited from the UK – 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.
Carroll was also charged with twice attempting to murder Edward Staunton on the night of 26 March 2017 at James Joyce Street, Dublin 1 and again at Peadar Kearney House, Railway Street, Dublin 1.
In that attack, Carroll ran over his victim in a car – knocking him into the air – before tracking Staunton down and shooting him twice as he lay on the ground awaiting help.
Carroll pleaded guilty last March to one of those two charges; the attempted murder of Staunton at Railway Street on 26 March 2017.
Before delivering the sentence today, Mr Justice Hunt said that Carroll had exited a car at Hutch’s residence armed with a pistol and a revolver and discharged several shots at the victim as he entered his back garden.
There were seven rounds of ammunition in the pistol and six in the revolver, he said.
The judge said Carroll had aimed the guns over a gate and wall before firing indiscriminately as Hutch ran through his back garden where his daughter was also sitting at the time.
Mr Justice Hunt said the prosecution had read a victim impact statement from the victim’s wife, Vera Hutch, where she had illustrated the profound effects this event had on her family.
“She thought her husband or daughter had been shot when she saw Carroll shooting over the wall, she is on medication and described herself as paranoid, she concluded by saying her life has never been the same,” he added.
The judge said this event could only be understood in terms of gravity by looking at the CCTV footage.
Referring to the offence of attempted murder on then 25-year-old Staunton, Mr Justice Hunt said Carroll had discharged four shots hitting his victim twice in the lower body, where others present had ran away in fear.
He said Staunton was admitted to intensive care and was later treated as an outpatient until he recovered from his injuries.
Passing sentence today, Mr Justice Hunt said the firearms offence on Hutch carried a presumptive minimum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and that it was difficult to see how the court could start from lower than that.
In terms of the attempted murder of Staunton, the judge said the evidence was disturbing and shocking and that Carroll had “run amok” in a densely populated area without caring for who else was in the vicinity and might come to harm.
“The intent was clearly formed with a deliberate plan to murder a deliberate target. The CCTV footage of this event was chilling and the damage caused was extensive,” he said, adding that Carroll had acted with considerable determination in pursuit of his target.
Referring to the firearms offence on Hutch, Mr Justice Hunt set the headline sentence at 17 years imprisonment and reduced it to 12 years and nine months in prison having considered mitigation.
The judge said that six months after the attack on Hutch, Carroll had made two deliberate attempts to murder Staunton and that this offence had been aggravated by the recent commission of the serious firearm offence.
He said the CCTV footage shown to the court in the case of Staunton could only be described as “terrifying”.
Mr Justice Hunt said the court had given considerable thought as to whether the aggravating factors in the attempted murder case called for a maximum sentence of life in prison but that the court would not impose this as there had been a guilty plea.
He added: “The striking feature of this case is the callous contempt for public safety, he is clearly a ruthless and dangerous criminal”.
Having considered mitigation, the judge sentenced Carroll to 20 years imprisonment for the attempted murder offence.
The judge noted that the next consideration was whether the offences were to be consecutive and said the court believed they must be so. He said the aggregate sentence of 32 years and 9 months was “somewhat disproportionate to the wrongdoing in this case” and reduced the sentence to 24 years and six months in prison.
Mr Justice Hunt, sitting with Judge Elma Sheahan and Judge Alan Mitchell, finally sentenced Carroll to 10 years and six months for the firearms offence and 14 years imprisonment consecutive to that for the attempted murder offence.
However, the judge said that the court would suspend the last two years and six months of the adjusted 14 year sentence in order to incentivise the defendant’s rehabilitation resulting in a final sentence of 22 years for the two offences.
The presiding judge told Sean Gillane SC, prosecuting, it was essential if the case went to the Court of Appeal that the CCTV footage was viewed “to get a true flavour” of the case.
The court previously heard that sworn information was provided to Gardaí that Carroll wanted to ingratiate himself with the Kinahan/Byrne faction, where he was believed to be under pressure to repay a significant drug debt arising from his own addictions.
Last July at Carroll’s sentence hearing, the three-judge court was told that the defendant
would need “intense help” as he tries to rehabilitate and deal with his drug problems.
Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha SC, for Carroll, asked the Special Criminal Court to consider suspending part of the sentence for Carroll, who counsel said can have a positive future with the right help.
Ó Lideadha said his client had been doing very well in prison and had impressed the prison authorities with his progress until a recent “substantial problem”.
He added: “There is hope for him in the future but he will need intense help, ongoing help.”
Ó Lideadha said he wanted to emphasise that his client carried out the shooting because he “wanted to ingratiate himself with organised criminals” due to his drug debts.
Counsel said that Carroll had grown up with five siblings and had a “loving and caring family” but he suffered a trauma at an early age that contributed to his early use of drugs and drug addiction.
Carroll’s sister had written a letter to the court which Ó Lideadha said stated that she had a close relationship with her brother but his use of drugs and involvement in crime “broke the family’s hearts”.
He became someone his sister did not recognise but since the defendant went to prison and engaged in his rehabilitation, she said she “seems to have her brother back”.
At a previous hearing, the wife of John Hutch – Vera Hutch – told the court that she saw a man with two guns at the rear of her house and thought she was going to be shot. She said that the incident never leaves her mind and that “everything stopped” for her that day.
Detective Garda Michael Lennon from the Bridewell Garda Station told prosecuting counsel Sean Gillane SC that the first offence arose out of an incident at Drumalee Avenue on the North Circular Road on 2 September 2016, where a number of shots were fired in the direction of resident John Hutch.
Lennon said that Carroll went to the rear of Mr Hutch’s residence and placed a tracker device under a Nissan car owned by Mr Hutch. The tracker had noted Mr Hutch’s movements between 30 August and 2 September.
Carroll, the court heard, was captured on CCTV footage carrying a bag and leaving the School Street Flats on 2 September before getting into a stolen Opel Astra.
Hutch and his wife were parking up at the rear of their house when the Opel Astra approached them at speed and came to an abrupt halt.
Carroll came to Mr Hutch’s vehicle armed with two firearms, the first containing seven rounds of ammunition and the second had six rounds. Mr Hutch ran into his back garden shutting the gate.
Carroll, who dropped one of the two weapons, was seen running to the gate with one revolver in his hand before firing into the garden “indiscriminately” where the victim’s daughter was also present, said Gillane.
Hutch’s wife, Vera Hutch, could be seen running across the road in the CCTV footage.
Gillane said that all rounds of ammunition were fired from the revolver and Carroll had retrieved the second weapon before making good his escape. The Opel Astra car was later found burnt out.
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