A court has accepted that a protected witness in the Gareth Hutch murder trial played a “reluctant and unwilling" part and was “acting under duress”.

The non-jury Special Criminal Court has spent the day reading out its lengthy judgement in the trial of three Dubliners accused of murdering Mr Hutch.

Gareth Hutch, a nephew of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch was shot dead on May 24th 2016 in the car park outside his flat in Dublin’s north inner city.

At the end of the nine-week trial, the prosecuting barrister told the three judges it wasn't a sudden or a spur of the moment kind of thing.

Regina Keogh from Avondale House, Dublin 1, her brother Jonathan, and Thomas Fox of Rutland Court, Dublin 1 deny murdering him.

It is the prosecution’s case that Mr Keogh was one of two shooters and the other two played various roles in the planning and execution of the killing.

A woman called Mary McDonnell was initially charged with withholding information but turned State witness and was granted immunity.

She said Mr Keogh and another man used her flat to stakeout Mr Hutch’s home on the morning of the killing.

Today, the judges said they didn't accept she was motivated by money and believed she would never have allowed her flat to be used without being seriously steamrolled by others.

The court will resume delivering its judgement this day next week.