Gerard Hatch has left for Spain a month after he was acquitted of the Regency Hotel murder – The Irish Times | Pro IQRA News

Senior mobster Gerard Hatch leaves Ireland for Spain, a month after he was cleared of involvement in the Regency Hotel attack.

It is not known if the 60-year-old father has returned permanently to Spain, where he owns property. Departed Dublin Airport on Thursday evening.

Someone who saw him enter the airport said he looked like he was traveling with just a few bags.

The Gardaí is expected to monitor Mr. Hatch’s movements for his own safety, and is expected to make contact with counterparts in Spain to alert them of his presence and any potential security risks.

Mr. Hatch was expected to leave Ireland upon his release following sentencing at the Special Criminal Court due to the perceived threat to his life from the Kinahan gang.

However, he remained in Ireland for over a month, staying at his house in Clontarf with his family and appearing in public on a number of occasions. He has been spotted several times traveling around Dublin on a motorbike.

Gardaí believes there is still a threat to Mr. Hatch’s safety, but that it has dwindled a lot compared to previous years. Several former Kinahan gunmen are in prison and key members of both the Hatch and Kinahan gangs are still under Garda watch, making attempted murder a risky proposition.

The Gardaí has ​​also been watching over Mr. Hatch for his safety since his release from custody.

Security sources say there also appears to be little desire on the part of either Hatch or Kinahan to reignite the bloody feud that claimed 18 lives over a two-year period.

“That doesn’t mean he’s obvious. He’ll always look over his shoulder,” said one source.

Another Garda source suggested that Mr. Hatch had large assets and properties in Spain and might be traveling there to liquidate or transfer some of them to free up funds.

He faces a huge legal bill arising from his drawn-out and complex murder trial and from his Supreme Court case aimed at moving the trial from special criminal court to jury court.

Last week, Mr. Hatch applied to the state to pay legal costs following his acquittal. The court will rule on the matter next month.

The Dublin man, known as Monk, was first arrested by police in the Costa del Sol region of Spain in August 2021, on the foot of an international warrant, after spending several months on the run.

He was extradited to Ireland to stand trial for the murder of David Byrne in the 2016 Regency Hotel attack. Byrne was shot dead by gunmen dressed as Gardaís.

Kinahan gang leader Daniel Kinahan was the intended target of the attack, but he escaped.

Mr. Hatch was acquitted last month after the three-judge court dismissed the evidence of his partner-turned-state witness Jonathan Dowdall as untrustworthy.

Two other men were convicted of aiding the murder by providing getaway cars. Last week Paul Murphy (61) and Jason Bonney (52) were sentenced to nine and eight-and-a-half years in prison, respectively.