Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch is found not guilty of 2016 murder of Kinahan cartel associate David Byrne at Dublin boxing weigh-in – as two others are convicted of facilitating the killing
- David Byrne was shot dead at a boxing weigh-in event in Dublin in February 2016
- Killing was one of the first deadly attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud
One of Ireland’s most notorious gangland criminals Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch has been found not guilty of the murder of David Byrne, an associate of the Kinahan cartel.
Byrne, 33, was shot dead at a boxing weigh-in event at Dublin’s Regency Hotel on Feb. 5, 2016 in one of the first deadly attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud.
The high-profile trial in the non-jury Special Criminal Court in Dublin concluded in January after hearing 52 days of evidence.
The 60-year-old Hutch, from Clontarf, Ireland, appeared in court today wearing a white shirt and suit jacket, with long hair and a long grey beard.
He was seen using a hearing aid head set to listen to earlier proceedings, which saw two other men convicted of charges relating to facilitating Byrne’s killing.
Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch (pictured in 2016) has been found not guilty of the murder of David Byrne, 33, at a boxing weigh-in event at Dublin’s Regency Hotel on February 5, 2016
Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch (left) and David Byrne (right)
Family members of Mr Byrne were also present in the court as the earlier judgement was read out by Ms Justice Burns.
Mr Byrne died after being shot six times at the crowded boxing weigh-in event at the Regency Hotel in 2016.
Hutch was accused of killing Byrne at the hotel as part of the gang feud. Two other men were being tried along-side Hutch and have been convicted.
The three-judge Special Criminal Court found Paul Murphy, 62, guilty of a lesser charge relating to the murder of Mr Byrne. Jason Bonney, 52, was also found guilty to a similar charge relating to Mr Byrne’s murder.
After the trial concluded this afternoon, Hutch was seen being mobbed by reporters and photographers as he left the court.
Former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall, who is serving a four-year sentence for facilitating the murder of Byrne, became a key State witness during the murder trial of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch.
Evidence presented to the court included a taped conversation between Hutch and Dowdall as they travelled to Northern Ireland, and a Garda interview conducted with Dowdall.
Ms Justice Tara Burns said that video recordings of Gardai interviewing Dowdall, conducted after the Regency murder, ‘make for very uncomfortable viewing’.
She said that the manner in which he told the lies to gardai ‘is extremely concerning for this court’.
‘A significant question hangs over Jonathan Dowdall’s character,’ she said and that because of his ‘patterns of lying, the court must approach his truthfulness with scepticism and extreme care’.
Dowdall will now enter the witness protection programme, which he applied to as part of an agreement to give evidence in the trial.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow…
Pictured: The mother of murder victim David Byrne, Sadie Byrne (right) is seen arriving for Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch court case at the Criminal Courts in Dublin on Monday
David Byrne was killed at the Regency Hotel (pictured) in Dublin, Ireland in 2016
