Hutch ‘lied’ about those involved in Regency shooting, former Councillor Dowdall tells court

Former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall has claimed that Gerry “The Monk” Hutch was “lying” to him when he said the six people involved in the Regency Hotel shooting did not know each other.

On the second day giving evidence at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin, Dowdall also said the Kinahans did not start the gangland feud which led to the deaths of 18 people.

In addition, he said he knew Hutch was involved in the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel because “he told me”.

Hutch is on trial over the murder of Mr Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel in February 2016, in one of the first deadly attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud.

Hutch, from the Paddocks, Clontarf, has denied the charge of murder.

On the second day of his evidence, Dowdall was asked about taped conversations between himself and Hutch when travelling from Dublin to Northern Ireland on March 7 2016.

A recording device was planted in Dowdall’s jeep which recorded around 10 hours of conversation between the pair.

Some of the clips were played to the court on Tuesday, and Dowdall was asked to explain the contents of the conversation.

He told the court that he knew Hutch was one of the six people involved in the Regency attack “because he told me” and that he knew his brother, Patsy Hutch, was also involved.

He said he was later told that Kevin “Flat Cap” Murray was one of the people pictured leaving the hotel after the attack.

In the taped conversations, Hutch is heard telling Dowdall that the six involved did not know each other.

Sean Gillane, senior counsel for the prosecution, asked Dowdall about that claim by Hutch.

“He lied to me, saying they didn’t know who each other was,” he said.

“I didn’t know who it was until the people were charged, when I seen (sic) book of evidence. It was all family members and his friends.

“I have no connection to most of them. He told me they didn’t know each other. But they do know each other.”

Dowdall also told the court that it was Patsy Hutch’s sons who started the feud with the Kinahans.

He told the court he had agreed to help resolve the feud, but later discovered that Patsy Hutch’s sons were responsible for the feud and that he “didn’t know that”.

He said he did not find out the “real story” until he went to Wheatfield Prison.

He said he thought innocent people were being killed.

Dowdall also said he was ashamed of some of the things he said in the audio clips, including comments about the “three yokes”, which, he clarified, referred to the three AK47s used in the Regency attack.

Dowdall is serving a four-year prison sentence for facilitating the murder of Mr Byrne.

The former councillor and his father, Patrick, with the same address in Navan Road, Dublin, admitted assisting a criminal gang to commit the murder.

Patrick Dowdall was jailed for two years for his role in the killing.

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