Gerard Hutch recordings played as Regency murder trial continues

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

Recordings of Gerard ‘The Monk’ Hutch speaking with former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall were played at the Special Criminal Court during Hutch’s trial for the murder of David Byrne. Byrne was killed at the Regency Hotel in Dublin on 5 February 2016.

Hutch pleaded not guilty. The proceedings were reported on 26 November 2022.

The recordings captured conversations in Dowdall’s vehicle beginning on 7 March 2016 and continuing into the following day. The men were allegedly travelling to Northern Ireland to meet republicans. On the recordings, Hutch said Daniel Kinahan looked “in a fuckin heap” in newspaper photographs after the hotel attack and described gardaí as going around “like headless chickens”.

The prosecution said Hutch’s reference to “three yokes” related to three assault rifles used in the attack being given to republicans in Northern Ireland. Hutch’s defence counsel, Brendan Grehan, argued that the State acted illegally by continuing to use the bugging device after the men travelled to Northern Ireland and that the resulting material should not be admitted. The judges had not yet decided whether the recordings were admissible.

Dowdall pleaded guilty before the trial to facilitating the Hutch gang by making a hotel room available ahead of the murder. He was jailed for four years. 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 trial continued before Ms Justice Tara Burns, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Grainne Malone.