Gerry Hutch’s barrister has accused Jonathan Dowdall of telling lies in court.
The former Sinn Féin councillor is being cross-examined in Mr Hutch’s trial for the murder of David Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel in 2016.
Right from the start, Gerry Hutch’s barrister made his position very clear to Jonathan Dowdall:
“You have lied to the court,” he said.
Brendan Grehan SC accused him of lying about Mr Hutch confessing to him that he shot David Byrne and again when he said Mr Hutch collected a key card for a room at the Regency Hotel that was subsequently used by one of the gunmen.
Mr Grehan also brought up Dowdall’s previous conviction for waterboarding a man in his home in 2015.
After some toing and froing, the witness agreed that he had lied to the Special Criminal Court back then.
Mr Grehan accused him of being a “master manipulator” and of incriminating his client because it has become in his interest to do so.
Dowdall said that was “nonsense”.
His cross-examination will continue tomorrow.
