Alan Hutch, the nephew of Gerry Hutch, has been warned by gardaí he may be the target of an assassination attempt on his release from prison.
Hutch (34) was released from Wheatfield Prison on Monday morning after serving a four year term for threatening to kill three gardaí.
While he served his sentence, a bloody feud broke out between the Hutch and Kinahan gangs in Dublin that has resulted in twelve murders to date, mostly of people connected to the Hutch family.
Among the dead are Alan Hutch's father, Eddie Hutch Senior, who was shot dead outside his house in the north inner city in February, and his two cousins Gareth and Gary Hutch.
Alan Hutch was driven out of Wheatfield in a private car shortly after 9am on Monday while he hid under a blanket in the backseat. The car was followed by a jeep from the Armed Support Unit and an unmarked car containing armed Garda detectives.
It is understood Garda management were concerned that members of the Kinahan faction might attempt an assassination attempt immediately on Hutch’s release.
Hutch is not involved in the running of large scale criminal operations but he is considered a possible target because of his close relations to other members of the gang. He is now one of the most high profile members of the family who is not dead or in prison.
In the run-up to his release gardaí gave Hutch a Garda Information Message- an official warning that his life is danger. He was given advice on how to remain safe and spot suspicious activities, garda sources say.
A low-profile Garda operation will remain in place for several weeks around Hutch's new residence off Dorset Street in the north inner city. He will be living with his brother Ross Hutch who he served time with in Wheatfield.
Although not involved in high level drug dealing, Alan Hutch has a violent criminal history both inside and outside prison. He has 48 previous convictions and during his sentence in Wheatfield he headbutted his brother Ross, leading to Alan being moved to another landing.
On August 27th, 2012, Hutch attempted to bite Sgt Charlie Armstrong after the garda arrested him for a robbery he had just committed on another man.
On October 1st, 2012, he stole a BMW while the owner was at the boot, led gardaí on a high-speed inner city chase and damaged a garda car. He was arrested but escaped from custody while being treated in the Mater Hospital. He was later caught, charged and granted bail.
On November 12th, 2012, he carried out an attempted robbery on the Ink World shop on Dorset Street. The owner of the shop ran outside and pulled the front shutters down, locking Hutch inside.
Three gardaí went to the back office of the shop and saw that Hutch had a large kitchen knife. Hutch told them: “I will f**king kill youse if you don’t let me out of here”.
He ran at the gardaí who pepper sprayed him. Hutch then said he had a grenade in his pocket and that he was going to detonate it and “kill us all”. He put a knife to his neck and said he would kill himself.
Gardaí managed to disarm Hutch after he had bitten Garda Ciaran Kavanagh and Garda Conor Mackey.
