Gardaí sought permission for bugging device amid 'culture of secrecy', Hutch trial told

The defence is objecting to the admissibility of almost eight hours of the contents of a 10-hour audio recording of conversations between Gerry Hutch and Jonathan Dowdall

Brendan Grehan (pictured) also submitted to the non-jury court that "on its face" there had been an illegal operation of the Criminal Justice Surveillance Act 2009 in this case and that the prosecution was seeking to "wheel the evidence in" which "extended beyond the territorial boundaries" and say "none of that matters". File picture.: Collins Courts

The permission to deploy a garda bugging device that recorded conversations between Regency Hotel murder accused Gerard 'The Monk' Hutch and ex-Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall was sought under "a culture of secrecy" and with "an unintentional lack of candour", defence lawyers have told the Special Criminal Court.

Defence barrister Brendan Grehan SC also submitted to the non-jury court that "on its face" there had been an illegal operation of the Criminal Justice Surveillance Act 2009 in this case and that the prosecution was seeking to "wheel the evidence in" which "extended beyond the territorial boundaries" and say "none of that matters".