Laurence Dollimore
AN Irishman will begin his trial today for the murder that kicked off one of the bloodiest drug gang feuds in Ireland’s recent history.
James Quinn is accused of murdering Gary Hutch, nephew of alleged kingpin Gerry ‘the Monk’ Hutch, on the Costa del Sol on September 24, 2015.
Quinn, a nephew of Martin ‘The Viper’ Foley, is accused of gunning down Hutch outside his Fuengirola home.
Quinn insists he has been wrongly identified.
The Dubliner’s trial has begun this morning in Malaga.
Spanish prosecutors will be seeking a life sentence if he is found guilty.
Hutch was shot in the head and chest after being chased around his urbanisation.
The 34-year-old died at the scene.
The assassination kicked off a Kinahan/Hutch feud which has so far led to the murder of at least 15 people.
An eight-page indictment against Quinn claims he shot Hutch on the orders of an ‘unknown person’.
It said he had a getaway driver who has yet to be identified.
“Once there, while his companion or companions waited inside the vehicle, the accused got inside the residential estate,” it said.
“After replacing the baseball cap he was wearing for a balaclava to avoid being recognised, he waited for Gary in the estate car park armed with a nine-millimetre Glock 26 semi-automatic pistol whose serial number had been erased and a .45 semi-automatic Colt 1911 pistol, neither of which he was licensed to carry.”
It alleges that Hutch approached his vehicle moments later, before the accused began to shoot at him in a surprise attack.
“Initially the victim was able to flee towards the inside of the estate but the accused chased him and fired more than 15 shots.
“Finally the accused caught up with him when Gary was on the ground and virtually motionless because of the bullets he had been hit with.
“Giving him almost no chance of defending himself, he shot him twice in the head from close range and killed him instantly.”
