The home of Gerry "The Monk" Hutch in the leafy suburbs of Dublin is under the watchful eye of gardai - where he is suspected of staying overnight hours after walking free from court.
Detectives are on high alert as they fear a female member of the Kinahan cartel will insist that the 60-year-old and others associated with him are targeted once more, having previously ordered the killings of feud victims. It can be revealed that a visible increase of garda patrols kicked off on Monday surrounding the Clontarf area and Hutch's home in The Paddocks regularly.
Sources told us that it is suspected that The Monk actually stayed in the home on Monday night. But following his sensational acquittal of the David Byrne murder charge in the Criminal Courts of Justice on Monday, Hutch is expected to dart from the country in the coming days.
Read more: Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch sports beard-free new look as he stays in Dublin after acquittal
The Irish Mirror has learned gardai are now more fearful than they have been in some time over an outbreak of violence after Hutch walked free. One particular area of concern is a female member of the Kinahan gang based in Ireland who insisted between 2016 and 2018 that numerous men, some of whom were completely innocent of any feud activity, were murdered.
A senior source likened the woman to Robert De Niro in Goodfellas during that period, a film where he played the role of Jimmy Conway and had a number of people killed. The source told us: "This particular female individual essentially waged the feud.
"She is suspected of ordering a number of murders. She was like Robert De Niro in Goodfellas getting these lads shot and a lot of them were easy targets.
"The garda response was so huge, it left the cartel decimated here and it was bad for business as they found out. But the real concern is that this woman will take the law back into her own hands, go through her black book and start going at it again. She just wants blood."
Liam Byrne has also been left fuming by the verdict, with no one held to account of gunning his brother down in the Regency Hotel over seven years on.
Byrne, named in Dublin's High Court as being at the "very top tier" of organised crime in Ireland and running the Irish branch of the Kinahan cartel, is now based in the UK.
Another source added: "This is so personal for him, it's very hard to predict what he might go and do in terms of ordering attacks." Gardai in the north inner city, where the Hutch gang have a stronghold, have also upped patrols.
The area was said to be in a party atmosphere in the area on Monday night following the news. Although the Special Criminal Court established the Hutch gang was behind the Regency, the family and The Monk himself are well-thought of in the locality.
However the stationary marked garda vehicle alongside members of the force which remains outside the home of Patsy Hutch on Champion’s Avenue is a timely reminder of the threat that exists.
Although a one-time senior Kinahan cartel member, Gary Hutch - Patsy's son and The Monk's nephew - was the first murder victim of the feud between the warring families in September 2015.
Taxi man Eddie Hutch, Gareth Hutch, Derek Coakley Hutch along with The Monk's two pals Noel "Kingsize" Duggan and Noel Kirwan have all been wiped out since. The threat level against Patsy remains severe, despite a murder squad who tried to kill him in 2018 behind bars.
Sources say if anything, it has risen once more since hearing evidence of his activity in the Regency murder trial. Before acquitting Hutch on Monday, Ms Justice Tara Burns stated: "A reasonable possibility arises on the evidence that the Regency was planned by Patsy Hutch and that Gerard Hutch stepped in, as head of the family, to attempt to sort out the aftermath of the Regency, particularly as his own life was at risk."
Following the verdict, Hutch stayed tight-lipped but made his own statement by walking out the front doors of the Criminal Courts of Justice. After a five-minute media frenzy, a member of his legal team got a taxi for him and he was off.
Shrewd Hutch is now set to leave the country over the coming days as he is in possession of his own passport. He is likely to head to Spain where he has spent many periods while he also has properties in the region.
His loyal wife Patricia, who was by his side as he was arrested in Spain, is also likely to travel with him.
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