'I don't care if I'm killed; nobody will touch my children,' Dowdall tells Gerry Hutch trial

A fraught, tense day of cross-examination for State's witness Jonathan Dowdall

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Jonathan Dowdall giving evidence in the trial at the Special Criminal Court of Gerry "The Monk" Hutch (third left) for the murder of David Byrne. It was brought to the court's attention today that videos had been circulated of court proceedings from the day before. File picture

Another gruelling and dramatic day of cross-examination for former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall was about to get under way that would end with his declaration of “I’m not a rat” and “I don’t care if I’m killed”.

He said what he was saying was the “gospel honest truth”.