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 Monk gets the green light
for taxi licence
Irish Times, Ireland, 19 August, 2001
Gerard Hutch, known as the Monk, has passed his taxi
driving exams and is expected to start work next month.
Sources in the Garda Carriage Office told this newspaper that Hutch
would be given the good news this week.
Hutch, who masterminded the £4 million Brinks Allied robbery in Dublin
in 1996, battled for three years to obtain a taxi licence.
"He'll be delighted," a close associate said. "I'd say
he'll be on the road within the next fortnight. He is genuinely serious
about working as a cabby. He has to make a living."
Garda sources claim that Hutch has money in accounts in continental
Europe and, ironically, in a taxi firm. Two years ago, Hutch was refused
a taxi licence because of his criminal background. Last June, he was
finally given clearance by the courts to get a licence if he passed the
taxi driving test.
"The only qualification I have is a full driving licence and I like
driving," he told Judge Terence Finn in the Dublin District Court.
He said he intended to drive a taxi full-time.
Last year, the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) presented Hutch with a £2
million tax bill which he subsequently settled out of court. Detective
Chief Superintendent Felix McKenna described him at the time as the
ringleader of a gang of armed robbers.
After the settlement, Inspector Phillip Ryan of the CAB told the court
that there was no evidence that Hutch was still involved in crime.
He said he would not be frightened to be driven by the former robber.
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