A witness in the Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch murder trial has revealed the real cause of the Irish mobster’s gangland feud with the notorious Kinahan clan.
On the second day giving evidence at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin, Former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall pointed the finger at Gerry’s nephews as the cause of the feud that has led to the deaths of 18 people since 2015.
Dowdall also said the Hutch was ‘lying’ to him when he said the six people involved in the 2016 shooting did not know each other, and said he knew Hutch was involved in the murder of David Byrne at the Regency 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 murder charge.
Former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall (seen right in a court sketch on Tuesday) said during the trial of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch (left) that the notorious Kinahans did not start the gangland feud with the rival Hutch gang – which has resulted in 18 deaths since 2015
Pictured: A prison van arrives under armed escort at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin where Jonathan Dowdall has been giving evidence, December 12
During the first day of giving evidence on Monday, Dowdall said Hutch was ‘panicking and paranoid’ and ‘knew sh*t had hit the fan’ after the attack.
Today, on the second day, Dowdall was asked about taped conversations between himself and Hutch when travelling from Dublin to Northern Ireland on March 7, 2016 – about a month after the Regency Hotel shooting.
A recording device was planted in Dowdall’s jeep which captured 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.
Dowdall also said the Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch (pictured, file photo) was ‘lying’ to him when he said the six people involved in the 2016 Regency Hotel shooting did not know each other
Picturd: A court sketch on Monday shows Jonathan Dowdall giving evidence in the trial in Dublin, of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch (third left) for the 2016 murder of David Byrne
‘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 – Gerry’s nephews – 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 also told the court 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 Dublin, admitted assisting a criminal gang to commit the murder.
Patrick Dowdall was jailed for two years for his role in the killing.
Dowdall told the court he knew Hutch was involved in the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel (pictured, file photo) because ‘he told me’
On Monday, Dowdall claimed that Hutch told him that he and another alleged Dublin criminal shot Byrne at the hotel. Mr Dowdall said Hutch was ‘very agitated’ when he met him in the days after the attack.
Mr Dowdall said he was asked to meet Hutch in a park in Dublin days after the attack.
‘He was not himself and he seemed to genuinely know that sh*t was hitting the fan,’ Mr Dowdall told the court.
‘It was upset over killing that lad, David. He was paranoid of people watching him in the park. He asked to walk and then would stop.
‘He said there was going to a be lot of innocent people killed, family and friends. People were knocking on family members’ doors and he needed to get someone to try and sort out everything out.
‘I was asked to speak to someone and step in. I told him it was a waste of time.
‘There wasn’t much more. I just wanted out of the park.’
Pictured: David Byrne, who was shot six times by AK-wielding assassins inside Dublin’s regency hotel in 2016
Mr Dowdall said he was worried over the booking of the hotel room, saying he wished he hadn’t been told details about the Regency murder.
‘He (Hutch) had a black cap and brown jacket on. He was paranoid about people watching him. There was a man walking in the park and he stopped and looked at Gerard and Gerard thought he was a cop,’ Mr Dowdall added.
‘I arrived and Gerard Hutch was there and he was on his own. He (Gerard) asked if I spoke to Patsy (his brother) and I said no,’ Mr Dowdall said.
‘He asked had I seen the paper (Sunday World). I said had seen it and I said who I thought the person looked like.
‘He (Gerard) was in a panic. He wasn’t like any other time I seen him.’
Mr Dowdall said he was asked to contact people in Northern Ireland to help resolve the feud, but said it would be a ‘waste of time’.
‘He said it was him (Hutch) and Mago Gately who were at the hotel and had shot David Byrne. He was upset and saying how he was not happy about shooting that young lad David Byrne dead.’
DailyMail
