Jonathan Dowdall available as a witness in Gerard Hutch trial, court hears

Risk assessment carried out by gardaí suggested a 'severe' risk to Dowdall and members of his family after giving statement on murder of David Byrne in 2016

Special Criminal Court was told Jonathan Dowdall will never live in Ireland again.

Former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall is being assessed for the Witness Protection Program after giving a statement to gardaí that implicates another or others in the murder of David Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel in 2016 as part of the Hutch/Kinahan gang feud.

Dowdall, who last week pleaded guilty to facilitating Mr Byrne's murder by making a hotel room available for the Hutch gang ahead of the murder, will never again live in Ireland, a garda told the three-judge Special Criminal Court this morning.