FILE PHOTO-Police tape at St. Stephen’s Green Park in Dublin. | Photo by Haydn West – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images
Patrick Curtis was jailed for 10 years for his role in the plot to kill Patsy Hutch.
A special criminal court in Dublin has handed down sentences for a group who plotted to kill Patsy Hutch—brother of alleged Hutch Gang leader Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch. According to prosecutors the killers of Hutch were members of the Kinahan Criminal Organization.
The Irish Sun reports that former cage fighter Patrick Curtis, 38, received a 10 year sentence with Judge Tony Hunt ruling that he had supervised and directed a Kinahan sub-cell formed specifically to murder Hutch.
According to investigators Curtis, along with Michael Burns, 43, Cian O’Dricoll, 25, Stephen Curtis, 32, and Mohammed Smew. 27, planned to cause a disturbance near Hutch’s home to drawn him out in the open, where he could be shot an killed.
In March walls near Hutch’s home were tagged with paint stating “Patsy dies feud ends”. Authorities believe that was the attempt to draw Hutch out. However, it didn’t work and the conspirators were arrested in June 2020.
Irish tabloids report that this was at least the third attempt made on Hutch’s life.
Hutch, who according to Irish press is not involved in criminal activity, is the father of Gary Hutch, whose murder is thought to have started the Hutch-Kinahan gang war.
Before his murder Gary Hutch was an alleged member of the Kinahan Criminal Organization. It is thought that in 2015 fellow Kinahan members suspected Hutch had tipped off authorities leading to a major drug bust at Dublin’s ports.
As a result of that Hutch was kicked out of the gang. He was given a severance package and told not to continue any criminal activities under threat of death. Despite this alleged deal, Hutch was murdered by suspected Kinahan associates in southern Spain in September 2015.
After the killing high-ranking Kinahan members attempted to broker a peace deal with the Hutch Gang to ensure there would be no retribution. It is reported that the Hutch Gang refused to participate in negotiations and, as a result, there was an attempt on Gerry Hutch’s life in a pub in Lanzarote.
Authorities believe the Hutch Gang responded to this plot by carrying out the Regency Hotel Shooting in February 2016. That attack, which occurred during a Kinahan-connected boxing weigh-in, killed alleged senior Kinahan figure David Byrne. There have been over a dozen gangland killings since then, with Gerry Hutch’s other brother Eddie Hutch Sr. and his nephew Derek Coakley-Hutch both being killed.
To kill Patsy Hutch courts allege that the Kinahans recruited Curtis, who was known as a mob enforcer for gangs in the Ballymun and Finglas areas of Dublin. The Sun claims Curtis was ‘obsessed with fitness’ and that he built a gym at the back of his family home. That outlet does not provide any details regarding Curtis’ cage-fighting past, despite labeling him as a fighter in their headline.
The Kinahan-Hutch feud has intersected with combat sports on multiple occasions. In addition to the Regency Hotel Shooting, there was also an attack directed against the Kinahans near Macklin’s Gym Marbella—the boxing gym that spawned the company that would later become MTK Global.
MTK Global was co-founded by Daniel Kinahan, who press, courts and politicians in Ireland, call the defacto leader of the Kinahan Criminal Organization. MTK had long claimed that Kinahan was no longer involved with their company, which swelled to become one of the most powerful firms in boxing, while making inroads in the world for MMA (by signing UFC star Darren Till).
Earlier this year Kinahan attempted to further legitimize himself in the world of boxing by signing with Bahrain’s KHK Sports as a special advisor. Around this time it was also revealed that Kinahan, who lives in Dubai—reportedly because he fear assassination in Ireland and Spain—had been negotiating fights on behalf of Tyson Fury. When this news became public Irish politicians expressed their dismay at the connection and asked that forthcoming Fury fights with Anthony Joshua be boycotted by television broadcasters. Since then it was announced that Kinahan would no longer work with KHK Sports or Fury and that he was stepping away from boxing.