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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Paul Healy

Gerry Hutch trial summary - Ten weeks of high drama, lies and something no one in court expected to hear

After ten weeks of high drama and admitted lies, you could be forgiven for wondering what exactly the State’s case against Gerry Hutch is.

When the Special Criminal Court trial began on the morning of Tuesday, October 18, no one in the room quite expected to hear these words from Prosecuting Counsel Sean Gillane:

“This deliberate killing was carried out without restraint by a group of people of whom Mr Hutch was one.”

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It came as a shock to everyone that the allegation against ‘The Monk' is that he was actually physically there - at the Regency Hotel - and even more shocking - that he allegedly confessed to being the person who shot David Byrne on February 5, 2016.

However, as the weeks went by and the case began to slowly unfold, it wasn’t immediately clear how and when we would come back to that point again.

But after getting to listen back to particular portions of an extremely dramatic, but oftentimes tedious bugged 10 hour conversation - and then hearing directly from State witness Jonathan Dowdall - the prosecution’s case has now begun to take shape.

And in a nutshell a central part of the evidence against Gerry Hutch is this: What he says in that bugged conversation.

Dowdall or no Dowdall this is evidence that is there on tape - and it’s a chat that Gerry Hutch doesn’t dispute occurred - although he may argue the context.

A prison van under Garda escort arrives at the Special Criminal Court (Collins Courts)



Unbeknownst to him and to Dowdall, the pair were being secretly recorded by investigating gardai - who by this point were very interested in both of their movements as they travelled to Strabane for a meeting with republicans on March 7, 2016.

Gardai wanted to know what exactly these two were up to - and banal conversations about singer Imelda May and Irish politics aside - something in particular pricked their ears to attention when they listened to the audio.

It was a chat about “three yokes” - and what exactly Gerry Hutch thought should be done with them.

At the start of the trial and throughout we heard that the prosecution alleges that the “three yokes” are a reference to the three AK-47 rifles used in the Regency Hotel - the same weapons that were subsequently found in the possession of IRA man Shane Rowan - days after Hutch and Dowdall had met him.

But it’s one particular exchange about these “yokes” that has only really garnered significance in the last few days of the trial this week.

Prosecuting Counsel Sean Gillane indicated that there may be a “confession” from Hutch in these tapes when they talk about the yokes, and what happened at the Regency.

Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch (File photo) (Paddy Cummins/IrishPhotoDesk.ie)



Dowdall is heard asking Hutch about a recent meeting they had with a republican figure referred to as ‘Kevin Tyrone’ and asks the accused:

"Can you remember that meeting with Kevin, you never admitted that was you at the Regency, did you not?"

In the tape Hutch, who Defence Counsel Brendan Grehan repeatedly told the court is hard of hearing, responds to this question by saying “What?”

"Well we did obviously if you're giving them the bleeding yokes,” Dowdall responds.

"Yeah he knows," Mr Hutch then replies.

This exchange forms a major part of the State’s case, and if the three judges accept that the reference to “yokes” in the tapes are the AK47s, it could spell trouble for the accused.

In another part of the bugged conversation Hutch also talks about having these yokes moved up north, and the pair discuss the process of doing so.

Brendan Grehan SC (Collins Courts)



Then there’s the surveillance photos of Hutch and Dowdall meeting Shane Rowan at his home in Donegal, where the pair have a meeting with him before returning to Dublin on February 20.

Of course we know that gardai intercepted a vehicle driven by Rowan in the Slane area of Co Meath - and discovered the rifles inside.

That occurred after Rowan was surveilled on March 9 two days after The Monk had gone to the meeting in Strabane - with gardai following his every movement right down to the Malahide Industrial Estate in Dublin.

Several members of the Garda National Surveillance Unit then watched as Rowan met with the accused’s brother Patsy Hutch - before he left and headed towards the Co Meath area.

All of this will form part of the Prosecution’s case against Mr Hutch - in that key events occurred right around the time he was discussing the “yokes” with Dowdall - and allegedly confessed to him.

16/11/22 - Members of the Garda Armed Support Unit on duty at the Special Criminal Court where the trial of Gerry Hutch for the murder of David Byrne continues. Mr. Hutch has pleaded not guilty. (Collins Courts)



There is also extensive CCTV footage depicting Dowdall and Hutch heading north in a Land Cruiser, going into a petrol station, a hotel, and a shopping centre.

Take aside all of Jonathan Dowdall’s extraordinary cross-examination over the last week and all of that is still on the table.

Remember, the Director of Public Prosecutions gave the go ahead for Hutch to be charged with murder before Dowdall had even turned State witness.

And you can argue until the cows come home about the reliability of Jonathan Dowdall.

Throughout his evidence to the court he frequently admitted to lying in the past, but insisted he’s telling the gospel truth now.

He was challenged for eight days by Defence Counsel Brendan Grehan SC on all manner of things: from his alleged involvement in shooting up his uncle’s home, to his threats to blow up a mobile home, waterboarding of a man, and “performance” on Joe Duffy’s Liveline.

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall being cross examined during the trial at the Special Criminal Court (PA)



The Defence argues that it comes down to Dowdall’s “say so” that Gerry Hutch met him either two or three days after the Regency Hotel incident at a park in Whitehall in Dublin and confessed to him about “shooting that young lad David Byrne.”

Hutch, he says, was in an agitated mood and opened up to him, despite them not being close friends, about the claim that he and James ‘Mago’ Gately shot Byrne in the lobby of the hotel.

The Monk, he claimed, confessed because he “missed Daniel Kinahan” and was upset about the killing of Byrne and the implications of it.

Now we’ve learned that phone analysis from an expert shows that Dowdall wasn’t in the Whitehall area when he remembers the meeting with Hutch occurring.

However it does show he was in the area on the afternoon of February 7 - and after this was pointed out to him, he said it was possible he had misremembered when it occurred.

Brendan Grehan was quick to claim that the witness was changing his narrative to “suit the record” - casting doubt over whether this meet-up in the park ever really occurred.

In the case of Mr Gillane SC, for the State, it seemed his main purpose for Dowdall last week was to get him to confirm two key things.

Jonathan Dowdall (file photo) (Collins)



Those being whether the references to “yokes” in the tapes means the rifles - and whether references to the “village” were Buckingham Village - the spot where the alleged Regency hit-team met up.

Dowdall confirmed both to Mr Gillane - who spent roughly half a day with the witness before Mr Grehan then grilled him for seven more days.

But it is hard to ignore how the defence has set the stage to challenge Jonathan Dowdall's overall reliability.

After all, the witness himself repeatedly confirmed to Mr Grehan that he was lying on several occasions.

His allegation about Gerry Hutch’s confession came in November of last year, when he himself was charged with murder and was then asking about having that charge dropped.

Mr Grehan argued that Dowdall’s prime motivation was having that charge dropped, and having the many questionable things he says on the tapes dismissed by gardai.

He repeatedly questioned him as to why, after six years, he was only now coming forward and making such allegations, and why anyone should believe a proven liar such as him.

The cross-examination of Mr Dowdall ended with him insisting that it’s ultimately up to the Judges to determine if he’s telling the truth.

And on this point, Mr Dowdall is unmistakably correct.

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