Regency hotel getaway drivers fail in bid to overturn their convictions

The Court of Appeal has upheld the convictions of Jason Bonney, aged 55, and Paul Murphy, aged 64, who were found guilty of acting as getaway drivers during the 2016 Regency Hotel attack in Dublin, in which Kinahan Cartel member David Byrne was killed. Mr Justice John Edwards dismissed all grounds of appeal advanced by both men, finding the evidence presented to the Special Criminal Court was capable of supporting the convictions. The judge rejected contentions that CCTV footage was insufficiently reliable to identify the vehicles involved and that the men lacked knowledge of the Hutch criminal organisation. He also dismissed arguments that pre-arrest interviews should have been ruled inadmissible. Murphy, from Swords, County Dublin, was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment, while Bonney, from Portmarnock, Dublin, received eight and a half years. Both men indicated they will proceed with separate appeals against their sentences.