Orla McPartlin says she would retain records linked to murder trial

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

Assistant Commissioner Orla McPartlin said she would have retained records linked to the Regency Hotel murder trial at the Special Criminal Court on 21 November 2022.

The records came from a tracking device on Jonathan Dowdall’s vehicle, which was in Northern Ireland during a period when prosecution audio was recorded, the report said.

A working copy of the data was found on a computer scheduled for destruction and was available for examination.

McPartlin said she had not known the records related to the trial when she approved their destruction, and that she had begun tightening the policy for destroying records.

The report described no later court ruling on the tracker records or the original murder charge.