Three men convicted over firearms in alleged Hutch plot

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

Gary Thompson, Glen Thompson and Robert Browne were convicted at the Special Criminal Court over the unlawful possession of four firearms with intent to endanger life. The offence occurred at Belmont Hall Apartments, Gardiner Street, Dublin, on 10 March 2018. The men admitted the offence. The proceedings were reported on 15 July 2019.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt, sitting with Judge Martin Nolan and Judge Ann Ryan, remanded the three men in custody until 29 July, when they were due to be sentenced.

The court heard that gardaí stopped the men about 250 metres from the home of Patrick “Patsy” Hutch. The report said CCTV and audio recordings led investigators to believe there was a plan to murder him. On 10 March 2018, the men travelled in an Audi to an underground car park near his home and entered a van, where they were arrested.

Detective Superintendent David Gallagher said the men became involved in early March, after most of the planning, logistics and financing were in place. He agreed with Browne’s counsel that the logistics had been put in place independently and that the defendants had not organised the event.

Browne told gardaí that a drug debt was why he became involved. His counsel said he had joined at a relatively late stage and took instructions rather than gave them. Counsel for Glen Thompson said his client’s drug problems had led to debt and criminal activity.

The firearms were a Rak sub-machine gun, a Rossi revolver, a Beretta semi-automatic pistol and a Makarov semi-automatic pistol. Gallagher said the investigation followed confidential information about an organised crime feud and ran from early February to 10 March 2018.