Hutch’s son seeks release via legal loophole
The proceedings by Hutch, 33, who is detained in the medical unit of Mountjoy Prison, were among almost 20 separate cases which came before the High Court yesterday. All of the cases were adjourned to various dates in the next law term. Among the reasons cited was that several are awaiting the outcome of another prisoner’s case, on which judgment has been reserved by Mr Justice Paul McDermott.
Hutch’s case was among five new cases initiated on Wednesday after Mr Justice Michael Moriarty made formal declarations that Section 99.9 and 99.10 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, as amended, are unconstitutional. Those subsections govern the courts’ powers to activate suspended sentences.
It is understood emergency laws to deal with the consequences of the court’s declarations are in the final stages of drafting and may be ready to be put before the Oireachtas within two weeks.
The five cases, and another initiated yesterday, bring to almost 20 the cases initiated since Mr Justice Moriarty delivered his judgment on April 19 in which he found the subsections were unconstitutional.
It was indicated to Mr Justice Seamus Noonan that the State disputes that several of the applicants are entitled to any benefit from the Section 99 decisions.
When the case of Hutch was mentioned, his counsel James B Dwyer BL said it is among those affected by the Section 99 ruling.
Conor Power SC, for the governor of Mountjoy Prison, said his position was that Mr Hutch was not detained on foot of an activated sentence and this case should go back to await Mr Justice McDermott’s decision. Counsel added he had a certificate for the prisoner’s detention and handed that into court.
The judge said he was adjourning the case to May 25 when the next law term opens. He also adjourned the various other cases to dates in the first and second weeks of the new term.
Hutch’s application is for an inquiry, under Article 40 of the Constitution, into the legality of his detention. It is claimed the court orders which have led to his present detention were made under Section 99.9 and 99.10 and that the striking down of those provisions means the sentences imposed on him on May 16, 2013, were not validly imposed.
Hutch was jailed for eight years after he threatened to kill three gardaí, claiming he had a grenade. At the time, he was also serving a suspended sentence of four years for a 2009 robbery and assaulting a garda.
He pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery on Drumcondra Road, Dublin, on August 27, 2012, and to assaulting a garda sergeant during the same incident. He attempted to bite the garda after being arrested for a robbery of another man.
He also pleaded guilty to car theft, dangerous driving, and damaging a Garda car during a high-speed chase around north Dublin on October 1, 2012. He admitted escaping from lawful custody at the Mater Hospital on the same day.
Hutch, with 48 previous convictions, was arrested a week after escaping from custody in the Mater Hospital and later committed an armed robbery with a knife in Dublin City centre.
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