Garda 'intervention' uncovered three AK-47 rifles in boot of IRA member's car, Hutch trial told
Members of the Garda Armed Support Unit at the Special Criminal Court during the trial of Gerry Hutch. Picture: Collins Courts
Three AK-47 assault rifles were found in the boot of a car following "an intervention" by gardaí just a month after Kinahan cartel member David Byrne was fatally shot in the Regency Hotel, the Special Criminal heard on Thursday.
Inspector Padraig Boyce was giving evidence at the trial of Gerard 'The Monk' Hutch (59), last of The Paddocks, Clontarf, Dublin 3, who denies the murder of Kinahan gang member Mr Byrne (33) during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel on the Swords Road, Whitehall, Dublin 9 on February 5, 2016.
Mr Byrne, from Crumlin, was shot dead at the hotel in Swords, Co. Dublin, on February 5, 2016, after five men, three disguised as armed gardaí in tactical clothing, stormed the building, which was hosting a boxing weigh-in at the time.
The victim was shot by two of the tactical assailants and further rounds were delivered to his head and body. Mr Byrne died as a result of six gunshots fired from a high-velocity weapon to the head, face, stomach, hand and legs.
In his opening speech, counsel for the prosecution said the court will hear that Mr Hutch's former co-accused and now State's witness Jonathan Dowdall said Mr Hutch had said that he [Gerry Hutch] had been one of the team that shot Mr Byrne at the Regency.
Giving evidence on Thursday, Insp. Boyce told prosecution counsel Sean Gillane SC that he participated in "an intervention" outside Slane in Co. Meath on March 9, 2016, at 7.05pm.
A man, he said, by the name of Shane Rowan from Forest Park, Killygordan in County Donegal was driving a grey Vauxhall Insignia car and the vehicle was stopped at the side of the road.
Rowan was detained and the vehicle was searched. Three assault rifles modelled on original AK-47s and ammunition were found in the boot of the car, said Insp. Boyce. Rowan was arrested for membership of the IRA and possession of the assault rifles and ammunition, he said.
In July 2016, Rowan was jailed for seven-and-a-half years for possession of assault rifles and ammunition. He was also sentenced to a concurrent sentence of four years in prison for IRA membership.
Detective Garda Rory Geelon said he conveyed the Vauxhall to Drogheda Garda Station for a technical examination. The witness said a number of the items were observed in the boot in "various wrapping".
There was a short AK-47 assault rifle, two AK-47 assault rifles and three loaded magazine cartridges containing ammunition. Other items found in the boot included one round of ammunition in a loose bag, cable bags, ties and towels, he said.
Sergeant David O'Leary said he got a request to go to Drogheda Garda Station and carry out an examination on the grey Vauxhall Insignia. There were some empty white canvas sacks in the boot and a rug, he said. One of the AK-47s was wrapped in a yellow rug and it did not have a magazine in it, he said. The two other AK-47s were wrapped in white shirts and two loaded magazines for the rifles were wrapped inside a towel, he said.
In his opening speech on Tuesday, Mr Gillane said the three assault rifles found in the rear of the car were later matched to cartridges recovered from the Regency Hotel.
Earlier, Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell, who is attached to the PSNI and was stationed in Strabane, said he was at Ballymun Garda Station in February 2016, when he was asked to identify an image of a man with a flat cap and carrying a pistol in his right hand. "I identified that person as Kevin Murray who was living in Strabane," he said, adding that he had last "spoken to him face to face" in April 2016.
Detective Garda Adrian Ahern, who said he is involved in investigations into serious crime in the border area, said he attended Letterkenny Garda Station to view two separate sets of images. He said he was able to identify Kevin Murray in one. He also identified Mr Murray in images entering the Regency Hotel on February 4, 2016, and leaving a room the next morning at 9.45am before going to the lobby with a green sports bag.
Detective Garda Seamus O'Donnell, who is attached to the ballistics section of An Garda Siochana, said he recovered several discharged cartridge cases from the reception of the Regency Hotel. He located a blood-stained tracksuit top, tracksuit bottoms and two discharged cartridge cases at the rear of the function room, where the weigh-in took place. He found bullet strike marks on the carpet and said there had been forced entry to a side entrance known as the laundry room.
Det. Gda O'Donnell said he went to Charlemont estate and examined a "very badly burnt" silver Ford transit van, where he found "several discharged live and cooked-off calibre cartridge cases" as well as a number of bullets located on the ground. The "cooked off" cases had exploded as a result of the fire. Two rounds of ammunition found were suitable to be fired from AK-47's and its various copies, he said.
A large set of red-handled bolt cutters and an electric key fob were found in the footwell of the van. None of its registration plates had survived.
Garda Michelle Purcell brought the three-judge court through CCTV footage, where a man is seen reversing a black BMW X5 jeep out of Drumnigh Wood in Portmarnock at 11.38am on February 5.
Mr Gillane told the three judges that the prosecution case is that the man getting into the jeep is Mr Hutch's co-accused Jason Bonney. However, Mr Bonney's defence barrister, John Fitzgerald SC, said this evidence would be challenged and that it was a legal issue.
Gda Purcell said the BMW had tinted windows with a silver rim around them, a faulty brake light on the left-hand side and that the vehicle was "quite mucky".
The BMW pulled up at "Eddies Fuels" at Hole in The Wall Road in Donaghmede at 11.41am on February 5. The driver gets out of the car and is seen carrying a canister in his hand. When the driver leaves the premises, he is no longer carrying the canister, said the garda.
The car arrives at Buckingham Street at 12.16pm and leaves the area at 12.40pm. At 1.20pm the BMW returns to Drumnigh Wood, parks up and the driver gets out of the car. He is seen running towards a house before leaving again at 1.24pm with some "form of bag" in his hand. The car drives in the direction of Donaghmede.
Mr Hutch's two co-accused - Paul Murphy (59), of Cherry Avenue, Swords, Co. Dublin and Jason Bonney (50), of Drumnigh Wood, Portmarnock, Dublin 13 have also pleaded not guilty to participating in or contributing to the murder of David Byrne by providing access to motor vehicles on February 5, 2016.
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