Dowdall jailed for facilitating Regency murder as Hutch defence challenges evidence

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

Jonathan Dowdall was jailed for four years by the Special Criminal Court for facilitating the murder of David Byrne. The proceedings were reported on 7 December 2022.

Dowdall pleaded guilty before the trial to facilitating the Hutch gang by making a hotel room available ahead of the murder. He had originally been due to stand trial for Byrne’s murder alongside Gerard Hutch.

Hutch denies murdering Byrne during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel on 5 February 2016. His co-accused Paul Murphy and Jason Bonney pleaded not guilty to participating in or contributing to the murder by providing access to motor vehicles on that date.

On 7 December, Hutch’s barrister Brendan Grehan SC argued that dropping Dowdall’s murder charge gave him a powerful incentive to make a statement against Hutch and that admitting his evidence would prevent a fair trial. Grehan also complained that the lack of video recordings of encounters between gardaí and Dowdall disadvantaged the defence.

Under cross-examination on 6 December, Detective Superintendent Joseph McLoughlin said the Director of Public Prosecutions’ decision to accept Dowdall’s plea was made separately from any potential statement. Detective Sergeant Patrick O’Toole agreed there was no evidence beyond Dowdall’s account to support his allegation that Hutch had effectively confessed to the murder.

The evidence was being considered in a trial within a trial to determine its admissibility. The trial was continuing before Justice Tara Burns, Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Grainne Malone.