Dowdall claims Monk is 'terrorising' his family

Jonathan Dowdall, a former Sinn Féin councillor, told the Special Criminal Court that he and his family are being terrorised and face death threats since agreeing to give evidence against Gerard Hutch in the Regency Hotel murder trial. Dowdall, who has pleaded guilty to facilitating the murder of David Byrne in February 2016, said his 62-year-old mother and children, some as young as ten, have received threats and have been unable to attend school since September. Under cross-examination by Brendan Grehan SC, defending Hutch, Dowdall defended inconsistencies between his current testimony and interviews given to gardaí in May 2016, stating he could not speak freely at that time due to fear for his family's safety. Grehan suggested Dowdall had deliberately lied to gardaí about his whereabouts and knowledge of the attack. Hutch, aged 59, of Clontarf, Dublin, denies the murder. The trial, sitting at the Special Criminal Court, continues on Monday before Justice Tara Burns and judges Sarah Berkeley and Gráinne Malone.