Hutch says gunmen involved in Regency attack did not know each other, court told

Gerry “The Monk” Hutch claimed that a number of gunmen involved in the Regency shooting did not know each other, the Special Criminal Court has heard.

The court heard audio recordings allegedly of Hutch and former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall taken during a car journey weeks after the shooting.

Gardai bugged a jeep belonging to Dowdall and the recordings were played to the court in Dublin, on Tuesday.

Hutch has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Regency shooting victim David Byrne.

Mr Byrne, 33, was killed during a crowded boxing weigh-in event on February 5 2016, in one of the early attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud.

Three people in masks and tactical gear entered through the front of the hotel and two more, one in a flat cap and another in a wig, entered through the laundry entrance.

The court on Tuesday heard a conversation take place between Hutch and Dowdall as the former Dublin councillor drove the accused to Northern Ireland on March 7, 2016.

During the conversation, the pair discussed explosives, the IRA, Sinn Fein as well as the murder of Mr Byrne.

They also talked about a number of celebrities, including British singer Adele and Dublin singer Imelda May, who Dowdall described as “mad as a bleedin’ brush”.

The pair were also heard discussing politics, including Fine Gael’s and Fianna Fail’s performance in the 2016 general election.

Discussing the Regency murder, a man, which the state alleges is Hutch, is claiming that gardai do not know who was involved in the shooting.

He is claimed to have said to Dowdall: “Ah they don’t know. Sure the f****** six people don’t even know. I definitely know two people there don’t know each other.”

Hutch also made reference to crime boss Daniel Kinahan who was believed to have been at the Regency hotel at the time of the shooting.

Hutch claimed that Mr Kinahan looked like a “f****** heap” in pictures that were published of him in the paper after the Regency hotel shooting.

He said: “I can see why he’s like that. If some c*** came in with an AK47 and I got out by the skin of my f****** teeth.

“If he wasn’t in an awful way, he should be and if he’s not he is f****** disturbed.”

In reference to the Kinahan crime gang, Dowdall is heard saying: “Either way they are going to jail. This morning the Spanish authorities are running their case.

“The horse f****** fixing. The English are all over them. There’s too much Gerard. They are finished.

“Why I think they got away with it for so long is they weren’t located anywhere.

“Like a company in the North, operating in the South, bouncing between countries.

“I think those days is (sic) up. It makes them all look very stupid.

“It just goes to show, I don’t think the way the papers are portraying in that they know, I don’t think they actually have a f****** clue about the Regency. I don’t think the police know what is being portrayed.”

Hutch replied: “Ah they don’t know. Sure the f****** six people don’t even know. I definitely know two people there don’t know each other.”

Referring to the man dressed as a woman and another man pictured fleeing the scene moments after the shooting, Hutch said: “They’ll be 100% about the man and the woman, they’ll know who they are. The rest is speculation.”

Hutch was also heard telling Dowdall that the police were going around like “headless chickens” and that loads of “f**k-ups have been made” following the attack.

They were also heard discussing “three yokes” and “throwing them up to them either way”.

The prosecution say this was in reference to the three rifles that were used in the Regency attack, which were to be given to republicans in Northern Ireland.

Dowdall is also heard discussing drawing “peace lines” in reference to the Kinahans.

In reference to the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud, Dowdall is heard saying that the “shooting has to stop” and discussing ways they could meet to end the fighting.

“It can’t go on like this either, you can’t live our lives like this,” he added.

Hutch replied: “No.”

Two other men, Paul Murphy, 59, of Cabra Road, Swords, and Jason Bonney, 50, of Drumnigh Wood in Portmarnock, also pleaded not guilty to lesser charges related to the murder.

Dowdall was jailed for four years for facilitating the murder of Mr Byrne.

The 44-year-old and his 65-year-old 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.

Jonathan Dowdall has said he is willing to give evidence in the trial of Hutch.

The trial will hear further audio of the conversation between Dowdall and Hutch on Wednesday.