Media outlets should stop circulating CCTV footage of Gareth Hutch’s murder, local politicians have said.
The 35-year-old taxi driver was gunned down in broad daylight yesterday outside the Avondale House flat complex in Dublin’s north inner city.
A video showing two gunmen shooting the father-of-one as he climbed into a car has since been widely distributed.
Sinn Féin deputy leader and Dublin Central TD Mary Lou McDonald today called on news outlets to take down the footage from their sites, calling it “voyeuristic”.
Media outlets should take down CCTV footage of murder of Gareth Hutch. Voyeuristic. Causing distress in community. Real life not soap opera
— Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) May 25, 2016
Local Social Democrats councillor Gary Gannon, who represents the north inner city ward, said the media should not provide a platform for footage that dehumanises victims.
“Whatever you may think about the so-called [Hutch-Kinahan] feud and the people involved, at the end of the day these are human beings and to circulate footage of a man being butchered on a city street is akin to circulating a snuff movie,” he said.
Mr Gannon said the video sensationalises murders “as if we were dealing with an episode of Love/Hate rather than a real family and their loved one”.
Gardaí told Newstalk.com that the CCTV footage is not currently under investigation.
No complaints about the issue have yet been received, a spokesperson for the force said.
A 29-year-old man arrested yesterday in connection with the murder remains in custody.
