IT’S “ALL SYSTEMS go” for the trial next week of Gerard ‘The Monk’ Hutch, who is accused of the murder of Kinahan gang member David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016, his lawyers have told the Special Criminal Court.
The court heard this morning that the trial is expected to open before the court next Tuesday, 18 October.
Defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC, for Mr Hutch, told the non-jury court today that the “newer evidence” in the case will be “back loaded” and that there will be “substantial cross-examination” at the “latter part of the trial”.
When asked by presiding judge Ms Justice Tara Burns about the length of the trial, Mr Grehan said he was not in a position to say whether the trial will finish by Christmas but that it was “quite possible” it would.
“If it doesn’t finish by Christmas, I don’t suspect that it will last many weeks after that,” he added.
Last week, lawyers for Mr Hutch told the three-judge court that they had been forced to carry out a “fundamental reappraisal” of their trial strategy after being served with significant new evidence.
The 59-year-old’s trial, which was due to get underway last Monday at the non-jury court, has now been adjourned until next Tuesday to allow the defence to consider “a relatively small amount” of outstanding disclosure.
Mr Grehan, for Mr Hutch, told the non-jury court last Monday that his client has been in custody for over a year and that he was anxious to proceed with his trial.
“He was ready to proceed today but matters developed late last week and we were served with very significant evidence which has resulted in a fundamental reappraisal of the defence strategy,” he added.
‘The Monk’ in court
Mr Hutch was present in court for today’s brief hearing, where he sported a full mane of grey hair and a pair of headphones. He wore a suit jacket, a white open-neck shirt and dark trousers.
Sadie Byrne, the mother of David Byrne, was also in court to hear when the proceedings would go ahead.
At the outset of today’s brief hearing, Sean Gillane SC, on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), said a significant amount of work had gone into the “gathering of material” last week, which had been disclosed to the defence.
“There is a relatively small amount still to be disclosed and we hope to do that today,” he added.
Mr Gillane suggested that the three-judge court list the matter for 2pm next Monday and said that he might be in a position to open the case then.
In reply, Mr Grehan said that “very substantial progress” had been made on the disclosure process and the service of “new evidence”. He said there was still “outstanding” material, which was being attended to.
Mr Grehan stressed that Mr Hutch was anxious for the case to proceed and from their point of view it was “all systems go for next Monday”.
However, Ms Justice Burns said that next Monday would not work as one of the members of the court has work commitments that day and suggested that they sit on Friday or next Tuesday if there were matters to address before the trial began.
Mr Gillane and Mr Grehan both agreed that the trial could start next Tuesday.
Mr Grehan said he was not inclined to trouble the court “looking for rulings” but that if he had to “trouble the court” he would.
Mr Grehan also asked the court if they would permit his legal team to consult with their client in the Criminal Courts of Justice building today, which was acceded to.
Court hours
Ms Justice Burns told the parties that if the trial was to run past Christmas then perhaps “arrangements” could be made until the early part of January.
Ms Justice Burns, presiding, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Grainne Malone adjourned the trial until next Tuesday at 11am and said that it might be necessary to revisit the “court hours” as time had been lost.
Last week, Mr Gillane told the three-judge court that that there had been “some developments” in the Regency hotel trial as the second and fifth accused men on the indictment had taken a “certain course” and their sentencing had been adjourned.
Mr Gillane said a nolle prosequi could be entered against Jonathan Dowdall on count two on the indictment meaning that the State will not be proceeding with the murder charge against the former Dublin city councillor.
Jonathan Dowdall (44) – a married father of four with an address at Navan Road, Cabra, Dublin 7 – was due to stand trial last Monday for Mr Byrne’s murder alongside Mr Hutch but has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of facilitating the shooting at the Special Criminal Court.
Jonathan Dowdall’s father Patrick Dowdall (65), also of Navan Road, Cabra, Dublin 7, also pleaded guilty to facilitating the murder of David Byrne (34) last week.
Last week, Jonathan Dowdall and his father Patrick Dowdall pleaded guilty to participating in or contributing to activity intending to or being reckless as to whether such participation or contribution could facilitate the commission of a serious offence by a criminal organisation or any of its members, to wit the murder of David Byrne, by making a room available at the Regency Hotel, Drumcondra, Dublin 9 for that criminal organisation or its members, within the State on 4 February 2016.
In addition, Mr Gillane told the court last week that there had been “a further development” in the service of additional evidence to the defence and that it was proper “for the case to go back to” today.
Mr Hutch, last of The Paddocks, Clontarf, Dublin 3, is charged with the murder of Kinahan gang member David Byrne at the Regency Hotel on the Swords Road, Whitehall, Dublin 9, on 5 February 2016.
Mr Hutch’s two co-accused – Paul Murphy (59), of Cherry Avenue, Swords, Co Dublin and Jason Bonney (50), of Drumnigh Wood, Portmarnock, Dublin 13 are both charged with participating in or contributing to activity intending to or being reckless as to whether such participation or contribution could facilitate the commission of a serious offence by a criminal organisation or any of its members, to wit the murder of David Byrne, by providing access to individual motor vehicles to that criminal organisation or its members, within the State on 5 February 2016.
The three accused men are due to stand trial at the Special Criminal Court next week.
David Byrne (34), from Crumlin, was shot dead at the hotel on the Swords Road in Dublin in February 2016 after five men, three disguised as armed gardaí, stormed the building, which was hosting a boxing weigh-in at the time.
On September 29 2021, Mr Hutch appeared before an out-of-hours sitting of the non-jury Special Criminal Court charged with the murder of Kinahan gang member David Byrne at the Regency Hotel on the Swords Road, Whitehall, Dublin 9, on 5 February 2016.
Mr Hutch was extradited from Spain after his final appeal against extradition to Ireland was rejected by a Spanish Appeals Court on 14 September. He was being held in a Madrid prison.
Mr Hutch has been in custody since being arrested in a restaurant in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol in Spain on 12 August 2021 by the Guardia Civil. A search for him began in April 2021 after Ireland issued a European Arrest Warrant in connection with the attack on the Regency Hotel.
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