Tony Hunt (judge)

Hunt was called to the Bar in 1986.^[2] He was an appointee of the Bar Council to the Superior Court Rules Committee.^[3]

Much of his practice was spent appearing in criminal trials as prosecuting counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions. He acted in trials involving assault,^[4] sexual assault,^[5] manslaughter,^[6] drugs offences,^[7] and tax offences.^[8] He acted for defendants in traffic offences,^[9] and sexual assault cases.^[10]

Hunt also represented clients in cases involving injunctions,^[11] contracts,^[12] and personal injuries.^[13]

His career on the bench began in May 2007 when he was appointed a judge of the Circuit Court.^[14] From March 2012, he was assigned to the Midland Circuit.^[2]

He was a member of the Circuit Court Rules Committee.^[15] He replaced Yvonne Murphy as a member of the Working Group on Efficiency Measures in the Criminal Justice System for the Circuit and District Courts in February 2012.^[16]

Hunt was elevated to the High Court in October 2014, coinciding with multiple vacancies created on the court following the creation by the Court of Appeal.^[17]

Hunt frequently hears cases from the Central Criminal Court, including those involving murder,^[18] manslaughter,^[19] and rape.^[20] In 2015, he was the judge in the trial of Graham Dwyer arising out of the murder of Elaine O'Hara. The trial lasted 46 days and attracted much media and public attention.^[21] In 2023, he was the judge in the trial of Jozef Puška, arising out of the high-profile murder of Ashling Murphy.^[22] Hunt has also heard extradition applications.^[23]

He is the senior presiding judge of the Special Criminal Court.^[24] He has heard cases concerning dissident republicanism and the Hutch–Kinahan feud, including the shooting of Gareth Hutch,^[25] Dessie O'Hare,^[26] and the kidnapping of Kevin Lunney.^[27][28] In May 2020, he described the Kinahan organisation as having a "hierarchical structure" containing "cells and sub-cells" to engage in "execution-type murders" related to international "organised drugs and firearm trafficking".^[29][30] This was the first time a judge had outlined the organisation in such a way in court.^[31]