Jonathan Dowdall 'duped' and 'put in firing line' for Regency Hotel attack, appeal court hears

The former Sinn Féin councillor is appealing the severity of his four-year sentence

Court of Appeal president Mr Justice George Birmingham said when he first read the appellant's submissions, his first reaction was that Dowdall had done 'extraordinarily well'.

Former Sinn Féin councillor and convicted torturer Jonathan Dowdall, who was jailed for facilitating the murder of Kinahan Cartel member David Byrne, was "duped" and put in the "firing line" for the Regency Hotel attack, his lawyers have told the Court of Appeal.

Appealing the severity of his four-year sentence for facilitating the Regency attack, Michael O'Higgins SC, for Dowdall, told the three-judge court on Tuesday that while the State may say the hotel room at the hotel was part of the "launching pad" for the murder of Mr Byrne, he would submit it was the "launching pad for a contrived event plan of disinformation, which was put together in a way where my client was left front and centre".

During the investigation, gardaí established the person using the room in the Regency Hotel was Kevin Murray, who had had known paramilitary connections with the IRA. Murray was very visible over the course of the day on CCTV footage and walked around the hotel freely, while during the attack he was seen on CCTV footage with a handgun held aloft.

During Dowdall's sentence hearing, Mr O'Higgins submitted that Murray was there to attract attention on the basis that investigating gardaí would be misdirected in a paramilitary direction.

Court of Appeal president Mr Justice George Birmingham said when he first read the appellant's submissions, his first reaction was that Dowdall had done "extraordinarily well" and asked should he as a judge be drawing attention "to the range of options open".

'Elements of unreality'

The judge pointed out there were "elements of unreality" about some of the arguments advanced in the submissions. 

"This is a person who pleaded guilty to an offence and someone who came before the court having been convicted of a very serious offence in the past and had served a substantial sentence — could he have had any expectation of doing better than he did?" asked the judge.

Mr Justice Birmingham went on to remark that a major issue was that the decisions taken by the appellant were going to have an effect not only on himself but also his family and that the sentencing court had been very conscious of that by making "unusual discounts and additional discounts".

Other grounds of appeal included that Dowdall wasn't "a time waster or a tyre kicker", was subjected to up to 10 days of cross-examination by counsel during the murder trial of Gerard 'the Monk' Hutch and to his credit "went through that process". 

"A person who wants to cross that Rubicon should be aware that courts recognise the huge and significant life changes that flow from that," he added.

Mr O'Higgins argued the Special Criminal Court had weighed the consequences of how Dowdall's life was going to change on becoming State's witness "with a blindfold", that the sentencing court did not hear the specifics and did not know what the future held for his client.

Discount for guilty plea

Counsel also noted Dowdall should have been entitled to a 30% discount for his guilty plea instead of a 25% one and that a headline sentence of six years was appropriate rather than an eight year one. 

"The headline sentence was too high, the discount for his plea [too low] and insufficient weight was given to his psychological and medical reports, with part reference to upending and the change to his life," submitted Mr O'Higgins.

The lawyer also pointed out "it shouldn't be lost in sight that there had been a previous history of booking hotel rooms [by his client for the Hutches] for credit purposes".

Mr O'Higgins said there were circumstances where the Court of Appeal had justification to hear new evidence and told the three-judge court he wanted to call Dowdall's wife to give evidence so she could explain the "difficulties" they as a family have.

However, counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Sean Gillane SC, said he could not consent to the application and that it was "patently unnecessary" as the sentencing court had accepted the "dire consequences" of Dowdall.

After rising for a few moments, Mr Justice Birmingham said the court was not prepared to admit additional evidence from Dowdall's spouse as the Special Criminal Court was "to a significant extent" focused on the decisions made by the appellant, "not just on his life but his family's life".

Opposing the appeal on Tuesday, Mr Gillane said the central point in the State's submissions was that the four year sentence handed down to Dowdall could be regarded as generous in terms of the overall nature of the case".

The State's barrister said the four-year sentence received by Dowdall was "indeed a generous" one and reflected the sentencing court giving as much measure as possible to the appellant, given the circumstances he had found himself in.

"Was it fair? Unequivocally yes," said Mr Gillane, adding the headline sentence of eight years was in the midrange, "unimpeachable" and that two separate discounts were applied thereafter totalling a 50% reduction from the headline sentence.

In reply, Mr O'Higgins said Dowdall was "duped" and put in a set of circumstances where once the Garda investigation began then his client was in the firing line. "There was no loyalty to him, he was front and centre", he concluded.

Mr Justice Birmingham, sitting with Ms Justice Una Ní Raifeartaigh, and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, reserved judgement in the sentence appeal.