The prosecution case for a conviction for murder
A court artist sketch of Gerry 'the Monk' Hutch
1. The prosecution says Gerard Hutch was one of two gunmen disguised in tactical gear who shot the Kinahan Cartel member David Byrne in a "brutal and callous execution" as the victim scrambled on the ground of the Regency Hotel amongst "complete carnage" on 5 February 2016.
2. Its main witness, the former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall, says he and his father handed Hutch the keycard to a room at the hotel used by one of the gunmen the night before the murder of David Byrne.
3. Dowdall says that Hutch subsequently admitted to him that he had been involved in the murder when he met him at a park in Ellenfield, Whitehall in Dublin.
4. Secret Garda recordings between Gerard Hutch and State witness Jonathan Dowdall show the prosecution says, that Gerard Hutch had authority over the three AK-47 rifles used in the Regency attack and was looking for help in diffusing the aftermath of the very serious situation that developed. The men drove north to meet dissident republicans to ask them to mediate in the murderous Hutch Kinahan feud.
5. Hutch was recorded talking about the movement of the weapons at a crucial time in which they ultimately ended up in transit. He refererred to them as "these three yokes". They were found by the gardaí in the boot of convicted IRA man Shane Rowan's car two days later.
6. The prosecution says it is apparent from the audio recording that "a plan is being formed as a way to hand over these three 'yokes'. Mr Hutch can be heard telling Dowdall that "these three yokes, we're throwin them up to them either way". The prosecution says this is a reference to giving the three assault rifles used in the Regency Hotel attack as "a gift" to the dissident republicans in the north.
7. The prosecution referenced a part in the recordings where Dowdall said to him "you never admitted to them that was anything to do with yous and Hutch responds by saying "Yeah, he knows yeah". It says this was "clearly an admission" by Gerard Hutch.
8. The prosecution says there was "no denial or pushback" from Hutch in the secret recordings against implications that he was centrally involved in the Regency attack.
9. Gerard Hutch's responses to Dowdall in the audio show at worst a tacit acceptance of his central involvement in the Regency attack, the prosecution says and that "in truth" it was almost an expression of pride in the choice of the weapons.The absence of a denial the prosecution says, is an acknowledgement that he was part of the team at the Regency and doesn't demure from the fact that it would be a lie to say he never did the Regency.
10. The prosecution accepts that its key witness Jonathan Dowdall is a man with a "serious conviction" for a "disgusting" separate crime but that did not mean the judges could not believe his claim that the accused had confessed to the killing. Dowdall was sentenced to ten years in prison for falsely imprisoning and "waterboarding" a man who he suspected was a fraudster when he came to his home to buy his motorbike.
The defence case for an acquittal of murder
Gerard Hutch
1. The defence position is that Jonathan Dowdall told "two big lies" to the court in his direct evidence, namely that Gerard Hutch had collected a key card for a room at the Regency Hotel from him and his father on Richmond Road on 4 February 2016 and that Hutch had "confessed" to him in a park several days later.
2. Jonathan Dowdall is, the defence says, "a proven and admitted liar and perjurer". The prosecution case stands or falls on whether the Special Criminal Court can believe his evidence.
3. The defence says that Jonathan Dowdall is also a "master manipulator" who decided he would give evidence against Mr Hutch to get his own charge of murdering David Byrne dropped.
Court artist sketch of State witness Jonathan Dowdall
4. The only evidence against Gerard Hutch, besides Dowdall's "flawed" testimony, is eight hours of secret Garda recordings of conversations between Hutch and Dowdall in which the prosecution alleges the accused made tacit admissions about his role in the shooting at the Regency Hotel. There is no "unambiguous admission to involvement in the Regency anywhere" in those recordings.
5. There are, the defence says, however lots of references in those recordings that contradict the prosecution's case.
6. There are numerous references in the recordings where a court could conclude that the 'Hutch gang' was involved in the Regency attack, but the defence says "the Hutch gang cannot be equated with Gerard Hutch".
7. The prosecution claims Gerard Hutch had control over the guns used in the Regency attack and that he was going to gift them to the dissident republicans but "News flash", the defence says, "Mr Hutch isn't charged with firearms offences; he is not charged with possession of firearms. The prosecution had a choice of what charges to bring and they chose what charges to bring". Gerard Hutch faces one charge of murder.
8. The defence says that much of what is in the recordings could in fact amount to Gerard Hutch getting involved after the Regency attack "to try to deal with the fallout". They could suggest he travelled north to speak to republicans "to try to find an alternative to more bloodshed". There was talk of "mediation and peace talks" and that Gerard was "somebody to stand and be guarantor for the extended Hutch family".
9. The defence conceded that there were "arguably things said and discussed" in the recordings that "could suggest serious criminality on the part of Gerard Hutch". But Hutch is not charged with conspiracy to commit crimes and the prosecution has "nailed its colours to the mast" by charging Mr Hutch with murder.
