TALE OF THE 10HR TAPES

REGENCY MURDER TRIAL | Judges to hear 'bugged chat between Monk & Dowdall'

- ALISON O'RIORDAN

JUDGES at the Regency trial will hear 10 hours of conversations "between Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch and Jonathan Dowdall".

The ruling came after an objection as the ex-councillor's bugged jeep was allegedly outside the State for most of it. But the prosecution argued it was "part of the core" of its case.

Judges to hear 10hr tapes of 'bugged chat between Gerry Hutch and Dowdall'

Court will listen to entire audio after defence lawyer objection fails

JUDGES at the Special Criminal Court have ruled they will listen to 10 hours of conversations allegedly between Gerry “The Monk” Hutch and Jonathan Dowdall that were recorded by gardai.

The ex-Sinn Fein councillor’s jeep was allegedly outside of the State during the majority of the recordings.

Hutch’s defence lawyer Brendan Grehan SC submitted their “core argument” would be that gardai were aware the Toyota Land Cruiser was outside the jurisdiction for eight of the 10 hours of those recordings from March 7, 2016.

And as such that the evidence harvested from that “illicit fruit” should be excluded from the trial.

The non-jury court will rule on the extraterritoriality issue raised about the audio recordings once they have finished listening to the 10 hours.

Prosecuting counsel Sean Gillane SC described the recordings as “part of the core” of the State’s case.

Hutch, 59, last of The Paddocks, Clontarf, Dublin 3, denies the murder of David Byrne, 33, during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel on February 5, 2016.