State rejects claims by Gerry Hutch over Special Criminal Court

Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch and former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall had claimed they should not be tried in the non-jury Special Criminal Court on charges of murder arising out of the Regency Hotel attack in 2016

In his submissions on Wednesday on behalf of Gerry Hutch, Brendan Grehan SC said the wording of the 1939 act meant there was a temporal limit on the SCC and it (the act) was not designed for the setting up of a permanent court. File picture: RollingNews.ie

The State has rejected claims in cases brought by two men, including Gerry "The Monk" Hutch, that they should not be tried in the non-jury Special Criminal Court (SCC) on charges of murder arising out of the Regency Hotel attack in 2016.

Hutch, 58, who was extradited from Spain, and former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall, 44, of Navan Road, Dublin, are both charged with the murder of David Byrne, 33, at the Whitehall, Dublin, hotel on February 5, 2016.