Jonathan Keogh pleads not guilty to Hutch murder

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Jonathan Keogh, Regina Keogh and Thomas Fox have pleaded not guilty to murdering Gareth Hutch. Fox has also denied unlawfully possessing a Makarov 9mm handgun at the same place on 23 May 2016.

The proceedings were reported on 5 July 2018. The trial was continuing before a three-judge court, with Mr Justice Tony Hunt presiding alongside Judge Patricia Ryan and Judge Michael Walsh.

Gareth Hutch was shot dead as he was getting into his car outside Avondale House flats on North Cumberland Street in Dublin on 24 May 2016. He died from four gunshot injuries.

The prosecution alleged the killing was planned and that each of the three accused had a role in bringing about Mr Hutch’s death. It contended that Jonathan Keogh threatened to kill him the evening before the shooting, that Fox and Regina Keogh were instrumental in planning the murder, and that Jonathan Keogh and another man were the shooters.

Detective Sergeant Enda O’Sullivan gave evidence about ear plugs seized from Jonathan Keogh during his extradition from the UK on 23 August 2017. He said he had seen the discarded plugs as a possible source of DNA and had asked a garda to seize them if Mr Keogh used and discarded them.

Defence lawyer Michael Hourican argued that the plugs were necessary on health and safety grounds and that their seizure breached Mr Keogh’s constitutional rights, bodily integrity and privacy. Prosecuting counsel Paul Burns said the plugs were optional rather than necessary. The court said it would rule on their admissibility on Monday.