Bugged conversations between Dowdall and Hutch admissible at trial, judges rule

At the Special Criminal Court in Dublin, judges ruled that approximately ten hours of recorded conversations between murder accused Gerard Hutch and former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall are admissible as evidence, despite finding the material was gathered unlawfully outside the State. The recordings were captured by a garda bugging device in Dowdall's vehicle during a journey to County Tyrone on 7 March…