EX-SINN FÉIN COUNCILLOR Jonathan Dowdall, a former co-accused of Gerard ‘The Monk’ Hutch who has turned State’s witness, has denied that he was caught on an audio recording planning “mass murder”, discussing getting “people whacked” and planting bombs.
Under cross-examination for a fifth day, Brendan Grehan SC, defending Hutch, played excerpts of the recording and asked Dowdall to explain to the court parts of what was said in these recorded conversations.
Dowdall denied in court he wanted to “blow up” lifelong criminal Trevor Byrne “while he slept in his bed at night” or suggesting that the wife of jailed criminal Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh should be kidnapped at a dancing event.
The former electrician also accused the lawyer of trying to make him out to be ”the chief of staff of the IRA” and said a suggestion that he was able to boss “the Ryans” around was “one of the most ridiculous things you’ve said so far”.
Showing his frustration in the witness box, Dowdall told Grehan, “it’s six days of this, six days of the same thing” and “I’m sick of bearing with you at this stage”.
The prosecution have already played the ten hours of the audio recording of conversations between Gerard Hutch and Dowdall that were captured by a garda bugging device, while they were allegedly travelling north to a meeting in Strabane in Co Tyrone on Monday, March 7 2016 in Dowdall’s Toyota Land Cruiser jeep.
The State’s case is that Hutch had asked Jonathan Dowdall to arrange a meeting with his provisional republican contacts to mediate or resolve the Hutch-Kinahan feud due to the threats against the accused’s family and friends.
The Special Criminal Court has viewed CCTV footage of what the State says is Hutch making two separate journeys to Northern Ireland with Dowdall on February 20 and March 7, 2016, just weeks after Byrne was murdered.
Gerard Hutch (59), last of The Paddocks, Clontarf, Dublin 3, denies the murder of Kinahan Cartel member David Byrne (33) during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel on February 5, 2016.
In his direct evidence last week, Dowdall testified that Gerard Hutch told him in a park several days after the Regency attack, in or around February 8 2016, that he and another man had shot Byrne at the hotel.
The ex-politician testified that the accused said he “wasn’t happy about shooting the young lad David Byrne and David Byrne being killed”.
Asked by prosecution counsel Sean Gillane SC if Hutch had said who had shot Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016, Dowdall replied: “He said it was him and ‘Mago’ Gately”.
Grehan, representing Hutch, opened his cross-examination last Tuesday by telling Dowdall that he wanted to be “very clear” that the defence position was that the witness had told “two big lies” to the court, namely that his client had collected keys cards for a room at the Regency Hotel from Dowdall and his father on Richmond Road on February 4 2016 and that Gerard Hutch had “confessed” to him in a park several days later.
Grehan asked Dowdall today that if the conversation in the park in Whitehall had “really happened”, why did it not come up again on the ten hour journey to the north on March 7, when they discussed “all matters of things”.
“He didn’t bring it up to me,” said the witness.
The former Dublin city councillor added that it was brought up as “I said about the three guns, there was concern about what they were getting, he said they did know”.
Counsel for Hutch also put it to Dowdall that the fact of the matter was that if “the conversation in the park on February 8 had happened then he [Dowdall] would have mentioned it to his client in “some shape or form”.
“Sure why would I repeat it. Mr Hutch told me what he told me [in the park], you can decide for yourself, it’s not gonna change,” said the witness.
The witness agreed that Gerard Hutch had called to his house on the Navan Road on a motorbike on February 12 to ask him about whether he could make contact with people in the north.
The lawyer put it to the witness that there would be no reason for Gerard Hutch to meet him in the park on or around February 8 if the accused could have called to his house.
“Sure I didn’t want him coming to the house and he never asked to come up to the house,” he said.
“I’m suggesting your house is where you would have met Mr Hutch if he wanted to meet as you did on the 12th,” said counsel.
Dowdall replied: “It was in the park where he asked to meet him, I didn’t decide where to meet him, it was his decision to meet in the park”.
Grehan suggested to Dowdall that the reason he was not willing to discuss anything on the audio in his interview with gardai in May 2016 was because he was “caught on tape planning mass murder”.
“That’s ridiculous,” he said.
In his evidence today, Dowdall also denied that he was caught on the audio discussing how to make and plant a bomb.
“I’m not saying I’m planting a bomb, I’m saying you could do that; not saying I’m going down to do that. It’s terrible talk, it didn’t happen,” he said.
The barrister asked, “How about to have six people assassinated?”.
“Six people I didn’t know their names,” said Dowdall.
“Does it matter, you are on about getting people whacked,” said Grehan.
Dowdall replied: “So is your client”.
“You’re the adviser on all this, you are advising about what to do,” said Grehan.
Dowdall replies: “I don’t think he needs me to advise him”.
Counsel put it to the witness that gardai had spent five days questioning him about this in May 2016 and he had made no comment.
“Gardai were very concerned and made no bones to you that people’s lives were at risk based on their interpretation of what you said on that trip,” asked Grehan.
Dowdall said “yeah maybe so”. He went on to say “we can go around the houses all day with this stuff, it never happened”.
During another stage of his cross-examination, Grehan asked the witness about his references to bomb making in the audio recording.
“There was no talk about bomb making, its electrical circuits. I’m not talking about making bombs at any point,” said Dowdall.
The witness continued: “I am aware of electrical circuits and how things work and blow, that stuff you see on telly”.
Grehan asks the witness if “the talk of electrical circuits” is not at the core of bomb making.
“You are making a massive thing about this, it didn’t happen and it was never going to happen and you keep bringing it back up,” he said.
Counsel said Dowdall had explained nothing to gardai in May 2016 about his reference to bomb making in the audio, when their immediate concern at that time was the threat to people’s lives.
“I knew no threats to people’s lives. There was no danger to anyone from me,” he said.
Playing parts of the audio to the witness, Mr Grehan asked Dowdall about Shane Rowan contacting him about circuits.
The witness said Rowan had asked him about electrical circuits saying: “I was asked would I do circuits, I went along and said I would but was never doing them”.
The court has heard that Shane Rowan, last of Forest Park, Killygordan, in County Donegal was stopped in a car outside Slane in Co Meath at 7.05pm on March 9, 2016.
The vehicle was searched and three assault rifles modelled on original AK-47s and ammunition were found in the boot of the car.
Evidence has been given that bullet cases found at the Regency Hotel murder scene were fired by the three AK-47 assault rifles.
In July 2016, Rowan was jailed for seven and a half years for possession of assault rifles and ammunition. He was also sentenced to a concurrent sentence of four years in prison for IRA membership.
Asked what were the purpose of these electrical circuits, Dowdall said “they” wanted them for bombs but the bombs didn’t exist.
Grehan put it to Dowdall that this was the first reference in the audio recording of him being asked to provided circuits for timers for bombs.
“I said I wasn’t giving them on the transcript, it didn’t happen,” he said.
Asked as to what was the reference in the recording to plastic, Dowdall said this was semtex.
Charges
Dowdall (44) was charged on April 27 2021 with the murder of Mr Byrne at the Regency Hotel but pleaded guilty in advance of the trial to a lesser charge of facilitating the Hutch gang by making a hotel room available for use by the perpetrators the night before the attack.
He was jailed by the Special Criminal Court for four years for the facilitation offence.
Following Dowdall’s sentence on October 3, a nolle prosequi – a decision not to proceed – was entered on the murder charge against the former Dublin city councillor.
The prosecution case is that the late dissident republican Kevin Murray used the hotel room that was booked at the Regency on the night of February 4, that he was the man seen wearing a flat cap when Byrne was killed and that he cooperated with the “tactical team” that raided the Regency Hotel on February 5.
Murray died from motor neurone disease in 2017 before he could be brought to trial.
Dowdall has previous convictions for false imprisonment, threatening to kill and causing serious harm from January 2015.
Byrne, from Crumlin, was shot dead at the hotel in Whitehall, Dublin 9 after five men, three disguised as armed gardaí in tactical clothing and carrying AK-47 assault rifles, stormed the building during the attack, which was hosting a boxing weigh-in at the time.
The victim was shot by two of the tactical assailants and further rounds were delivered to his head and body.
Byrne died after suffering catastrophic injuries from six gunshots fired from a high-velocity weapon to the head, face, stomach, hand and legs.
Hutch’s two co-accused – Paul Murphy (61), of Cherry Avenue, Swords, Co Dublin and Jason Bonney (50), of Drumnigh Wood, Portmarnock, Dublin 13 have pleaded not guilty to participating in or contributing to the murder of David Byrne by providing access to motor vehicles on February 5, 2016.
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