Court admits recordings in Gerard Hutch murder trial despite unlawful gathering

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Special Criminal Court ruled on 2 December 2022 that recorded conversations between Gerard ‘The Monk’ Hutch and Jonathan Dowdall were admissible in Hutch’s murder trial, even though evidence gathered in Northern Ireland had been obtained unlawfully.

Delivering the three-judge court’s decision, presiding judge Ms Justice Tara Burns said surveillance officers had no power to gather evidence in Northern Ireland, but the conversations should be admitted in the interests of justice. The court found that the officers acted in good faith and did not know their actions were illegal at the time. It found no breach of Hutch’s constitutional right to privacy.

The court rejected the defence challenge to the District Court’s authorisation of the bug but accepted its argument that operating the device outside the jurisdiction was illegal. The defence had sought to exclude all or most of the conversations recorded outside the State. The prosecution had sought to use the ten-hour recording.

Hutch denies murdering David Byrne during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel on 5 February 2016. The conversations were recorded on 7 March 2016 during an alleged journey north in Dowdall’s jeep. The prosecution’s case was that Hutch had asked Dowdall to arrange a meeting with republican contacts to mediate or resolve the Hutch-Kinahan feud because of threats to Hutch’s family and friends.

Dowdall, who had been due to stand trial for Byrne’s murder alongside Hutch, pleaded guilty before the trial to facilitating the Hutch gang by making a hotel room available ahead of the murder. The Special Criminal Court jailed him for four years. He had agreed to testify against Hutch and was being assessed for the Witness Protection Program.

Hutch’s co-accused, Paul Murphy and Jason Bonney, pleaded not guilty to participating in or contributing to Byrne’s murder by providing access to motor vehicles on 5 February 2016. The proceedings were reported on 2 December 2022.