Hutch family member jailed after lighting bottle and throwing it at Dublin apartment

Fiona Ferguson

A man who lit bottle of flammable liquid and threw at an apartment during a confrontation on the day of his brother’s murder inquest has been jailed for more than two years.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Nathan Coakley (33), a member of the Hutch family, was suffering significant stress at the time amid ongoing threats connected to a feud.

The court was told the feud was not of his making, but he was living in a state of heightened anxiety and suffering from post-traumatic stress, which contributed to substance misuse.

The offence occurred on the date of an inquest into the murder of his brother, Derek Coakley Hutch.

The bottle failed to ignite, and no one was injured. Coakley has since addressed his drug misuse.

Coakley of Buckingham Street Upper, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to affray at Liberty House, Dublin 1, on July 7th, 2022.

He has 105 previous convictions and is currently serving a sentence for a drug offence. He is due to be released later this year.

Passing sentence on Wednesday, Judge Martin Nolan said Coakley had been involved in a verbal altercation and seemed dissatisfied with the result.

He returned with an ambition to do damage to the property and threw a lit bottle containing flammable liquid at the apartment.

Judge Nolan said this did not work and he was pursued from the scene by a man waving a saw.

The judge said Coakley encountered gardaí before retreating to his own home. He said gardaí pursued the case and brought it to court, where Coakley has now pleaded guilty to affray.

Judge Nolan said he was taking into account the surrounding circumstances and Coakley’s record of offending. He set a headline sentence of four years.

He considered mitigation and imposed a two year and three-month sentence consecutive to the term Coakley is already serving. He had been due for release later this year.

Garda Kieran Stapleton told Aoife McNickle, prosecuting, that CCTV before the court showed Coakley engaging in a shouting match with another man, who waved a saw in his direction.

Coakley left and returned with a plastic bottle filled with flammable liquid, which he lit and threw at an apartment. It failed to ignite and he can be seen on the CCTV waving the bottle and spraying out the liquid.

Coakley was chased from the scene by a man waving a saw. There were no victim impact statements. Droplets of the liquid were later observed at the scene, and a melted bottle was seized.

Keith Spencer, defending, said Coakley’s brother Derek had been murdered in 2018 and this offence occurred on the day of the inquest into his death. He said there had been some tensions and division arising from circumstances within the family.

He said Coakley was living a hugely stressful existence at the time and was the subject of many threats of violence. He had trouble coping and was struggling with addiction issues.

He said the offence had been “unsophisticated” with a plastic bottle thrown instead of an object that would shatter and explode. He said as a result Coakley had to retrieve the bottle and squeeze the liquid out.

He said it burned for a short time but no one was injured and it did not present a danger to anyone.

He said Coakley’s mother and partner were in court to support him. He is a father of one.

Spencer said Coakley’s father had died tragically when his client was just 16 years old and this was the source of his turbulent youth and descent into criminality.

He said Coakley’s drug addiction had been exacerbated by the situation of constant stress and panic he found himself in at the time. He said the feud had not been of his making, but he had suffered acutely as a result of it. His time in prison had been more difficult as a result.

Spencer said it was difficult to conceive of a more tense and anxious situation than the one Coakley had found himself.

Spencer said Coakley has attended residential treatment and is clean of drugs since 2024. He said his client is looking to put criminality behind him and be a support to his family.

He said Coakley regrets the offence and was in an extreme state of emotion at the time.

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