Courts / Dublin / Report

Kinahans 'want to be the biggest gang in Europe', Hutch told Dowdall

Date
2022-11-24

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

The Special Criminal Court has sentenced Jonathan Dowdall to four years in prison for facilitating the murder of Kinahan Cartel member David Byrne. Dowdall pleaded guilty to charges related to the February 5, 2016, Regency Hotel shooting. The court heard evidence that Dowdall facilitated the Hutch gang in this notorious killing. While Dowdall's case has been finalized with a custodial sentence, the trial of co-accused Gerard Hutch remains ongoing. Hutch, who pleaded not guilty to participating in or contributing to the murder by providing access to motor vehicles, faces a non-jury trial. The court recently heard ten hours of audio recordings allegedly captured by a garda bugging device during a trip to Northern Ireland. The State's case relies on these conversations, where Hutch allegedly discussed the Kinahan cartel's ambition to become the biggest gang in Europe. However, the defense, led by Brendan Grehan SC, argues that the State acted illegally by using the device outside the jurisdiction, seeking to exclude the evidence as illicit fruit. The court is currently hearing legal arguments on the admissibility of this evidence in a voir dire proceeding. Other defendants, Paul Murphy and Jason Bonney, also pleaded not guilty to similar charges of contributing to the murder by providing vehicle access. The matter regarding Hutch's admissibility challenge is not yet concluded, with the judges set to rule on the extraterritoriality issue.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Kinahans 'want to be the biggest gang in Europe', Hutch told Dowdall. Charges or matters: Mr Byrne's murder; participating in or contributing to the murder of David Byrne by providing access to motor vehicles on February 5, 2016. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

March 7, 2016 Incident
February 8 2016 Incident
February 5, 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
Monday, March 7 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
Tuesday, March 8 Hearing Or Sentence
February 20 Hearing Or Sentence
March 7 Hearing Or Sentence
March 8 Other
2022-11-24 Publication

Why: " He said gardai from the Crime and Security section and the National Surveillance Unit who gave evidence during the trial had taken care to say that they don't conduct surveillance outside the State because they know that the Act does not permit them to do so. CNI source report

Case subjects

Gerard Hutch

Co Accused

Charges: Mr Byrne's murder (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Dowdall has been jailed by the Special Criminal Court for four years for facilitating the Hutch gang in the notorious murder of Kinahan Cartel member David Byrne.

Jason Bonney

Defendant

Charges: participating in or contributing to the murder of David Byrne by providing access to motor vehicles on February 5, 2016 (Alleged Or Contested)

Plea: Not guilty

Jonathan Dowdall