Courts / Dublin / Report

Combined 17.5 years for Regency Hotel getaway drivers

Date
2023-05-12

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

At the Special Criminal Court, Paul Murphy (61) and Jason Bonney (52) were sentenced for participating in the 2016 murder of David Byrne by providing getaway vehicles. The three-judge panel found both men guilty of contributing to the killing by facilitating the removal of two gunmen from the scene. Ms Justice Tara Burns, sitting with Judges Sarah Berkeley and Grainne Malone, described their assistance as intentional and organised, noting they acted in concert with four other vehicles in a planned operation. The court rejected defence arguments that their role was minor, finding they knew a serious criminal event was planned. Murphy, who has 67 previous convictions, received a nine-year sentence backdated to March 17. Bonney, who has no prior record, was sentenced to eight and a half years, backdated to April 14. The judge set a headline sentence of ten years for both, reducing it based on personal circumstances. Separately, Gerard "The Monk" Hutch was acquitted of the murder charge in the same case. The court found it could not rely on the unsupported evidence of a witness to convict him. These sentences conclude the sentencing phase for the convicted defendants, while Hutch remains free following his acquittal.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Combined 17.5 years for Regency Hotel getaway drivers. Charges or matters: participating in or contributing to the murder of Mr Byrne by providing access to motor vehicles; murder of Mr Byrne. Procedural stage: sentence. Findings: Found guilty; Acquitted

When:

February 5 2016 Incident
April 17 Incident
March 17 Hearing Or Sentence
April 14 Hearing Or Sentence
February 5, 2016 Incident
February 5 Incident
2023-05-12 Publication

Case subjects

Gerard "The Monk" Hutch

Defendant

Charges: murder of Mr Byrne (Proven)

Finding: Acquitted

Outcome: Acquitted

Paul Murphy

Defendant

Charges: participating in or contributing to the murder of Mr Byrne by providing access to motor vehicles (Proven)

Finding: Found guilty

Outcome: Found guilty; The judge made the comments at the non-jury court today as she imposed a sentence of nine years on Paul Murphy (61), of Cherry Avenue, Swords, Co Dublin and jailed his co-accused Jason Bonney (52), of Drumnigh Wood, Portmarnock, Dublin 13 for eight and a half years.