Hutch trial hears exactly when and how evidence was collected

Members of the Garda Armed Support Unit provide added security at the Special Criminal Court where the trial of Gerry Hutch for the murder of David Byrne continues. Picture: Collins Courts

When a trial is expected to last 12 weeks, you can be sure nothing will be rushed.

And on day three of the landmark trial of Gerry Hutch, accused of the murder of David Byrne in the Regency Hotel in February 2016, the non-jury Special Criminal Court spent much of its time getting into the nitty-gritty of evidence collected as part of the prosecution’s case.

“Garda X, did you collect Y piece of CCTV footage on Z date?”.

There was a lot of that as the prosecution attempted to dot its Is and cross its Ts, demonstrating when and how evidence was collected, how it was labelled, and who it was then given to.

Numerous gardaí gave evidence for just a few minutes, confirming that yes, they had collected that piece of footage on that date.

A pharmacy worker and two men who had worked in security also gave evidence to say yes, a garda came to their place of work and requested access to CCTV on specified dates.

As each person gave evidence, Mr Hutch remained as he has been for much of the proceedings so far, relatively unruffled as he looks at the person giving evidence or at footage being shown on the screen.

At one stage in the morning, he took notes as a garda gave evidence regarding aerial photographs he had taken in Dublin.

Interspersed with such evidence was more CCTV footage relating to the events in the Regency.

At the beginning of proceedings, the court heard evidence from a PSNI officer and a garda on the identity of the man wearing the flat cap during the shooting on February 5, 2016.

Detective Inspector John Caldwell, who had formerly been based in Strabane, identified the man in the flat cap as Kevin Murray. Mr Murray has passed away since the events in the Regency.

Detective Garda Adrian Ahern, from Letterkenny Garda Station, also identified Mr Murray from CCTV footage played.

The court also saw images of Mr Murray leaving a hotel room in the Regency the night before the shooting. 

He goes for a pint in the bar, before returning to the room and then leaving again the next morning. 

The court heard that he was the man wearing a flat cap who entered the Regency later that day with the man dressed in women’s clothing.

In the foreground of one of the clips from the bar, a man can be seen wearing a T-shirt with a logo for MGM Promotions. MGM was due to host the Clash of the Clans boxing event in conjunction with Queensberry Promotions on the Saturday night.

Further parts of the prosecution’s case focused in on the three AK-47s seized by gardaí outside Slane, Co Meath, a month after the Regency shooting. 

In his opening statement earlier in the week, prosecuting counsel Sean Gillane said these three rifles were later matched to cartridges recovered from the Regency Hotel.

Again, in the minutest of detail, garda witnesses described their collection of evidence from this vehicle. 

There was even time for a rare moment of levity, when the defence counsel for Mr Hutch began to address one of the witnesses before being told he was speaking to a different Garda David O’Leary to the one who had examined the scene at the Regency Hotel.

“You did say there were two,” Brendan Grehan SC told Mr Gillane. 

The trial continues.