Gerard Hutch acquitted of Regency murder as court finds Jonathan Dowdall evidence unreliable

The non-jury court found that it could not rely on the evidence of former Sinn Féin councillor and convicted torturer Jonathan Dowdall

Gerry “The Monk” Hutch leaving the Special Criminal Court after been acquitted of murdering David Byrne. Picture: Colin Keegan /Collins Courts

Amid dramatic scenes at the Special Criminal Court, notorious crime figure Gerard "The Monk" Hutch is a free man having been acquitted of murdering David Byrne during the centrepiece attack of the Hutch/Kinahan gang feud at the Regency Hotel in 2016, with the non-jury court finding it could not rely on the evidence of former Sinn Féin councillor and convicted torturer Jonathan Dowdall.

The court also found that audio recordings of a conversation between Dowdall and Mr Hutch did not corroborate Dowdall's claim that Mr Hutch had confessed to being one of the hitmen at the Regency Hotel where David Byrne was shot dead.