Regency attack getaway drivers appeal convictions claiming 'unfair' trial
Jason Bonney and Paul Murphy were tried alongside Gerard 'The Monk' Hutch at the three-judge, non-jury court in 2022
The Special Criminal Court trial of two men convicted of acting as getaway drivers for the Regency hotel gunmen was "unfair" and the judges made "sweeping conclusions" that were not available on the evidence, barristers have argued.
Jason Bonney and Paul Murphy were tried alongside Gerard 'The Monk' Hutch at the three-judge, non-jury court in 2022. Hutch was acquitted of the murder of David Byrne but Bonney and Murphy were convicted of facilitating the Hutch criminal organisation in carrying out the murder.
At the three-judge Court of Appeal today Bernard Condon SC, for Murphy, said that in finding his client guilty, the lower court had engaged in "overreach" and had made "sweeping conclusions" such as that one of the hitmen was in Murphy's car following the shooting.
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Mr Condon said there was also insufficient evidence to prove that his client knew of the existence of the Hutch criminal organisation or that he would have known that he was facilitating a serious offence. Counsel said there was evidence that Murphy knew Gerard Hutch's brothers Patsy and Eddie through his work as a taxi driver. There was no evidence, however, that either of those men were involved in a criminal organisation, he said.
Part of the prosecution case was that one of the suspects for the shooting, Kevin 'Flatcap' Murray, travelled to Buckingham St in Dublin where the prosecution alleged the Hutch organisation had its "centre of operations". In the court's verdict, they said Murray left the Buckingham St area in a Transit Van which brought the gunmen to the Regency hotel.
Mr Condon said it could not be determined beyond a reasonable doubt that Murray was in the van. He said the finding was "entirely speculative" and while possible, it was not proven to the required standard of beyond a reasonable doubt.
Mr Condon also criticised the court's finding that his client's Toyota Avensis was at St Vincent's GAA ground after the shooting where the prosecution alleged the shooters were dropped off before being taken away by a convoy of cars.
Mr Condon said the CCTV footage relied upon does not allow any conclusion to be drawn about the types of cars at the GAA ground. For the court to find that Murphy's car was there and was used to remove one of the shooters was a "sweeping conclusion", Mr Condon said, and a finding that was not available to the court.
Counsel further argued that interviews gardai conducted with his client prior to his arrest should have been ruled inadmissible because gardai had failed to caution him or to tell him that he was entitled to a solicitor.
Mr Condon also said that gardai who seized Murphy's Toyota Avensis taxi did not have the power to search the vehicle. He said the search of the car engaged his client's privacy rights and therefore required gardai to get a warrant from the District Court.
Brian McInerney SC, for Bonney, agreed that there had been "overreach" by the court in its findings and said his client's interview without caution should have been ruled inadmissible.
Fiona Murphy SC for the Director of Public Prosecutions said the identification of Murray in the Transit Van is a matter of inference and that the van can be identified on CCTV at the Regency Hotel by its registration plate.
She said that Murphy's state of knowledge of the criminal organisation can be gleaned from his actions in relation to this offence, which was meticulously planned over days or possibly weeks by a significant number of people. He is also known to regularly visit Buckingham Village, which Ms Murphy said was the "centre of operations" for the murder. He also had access to Buckingham Village through a key card that was found in his taxi, she said.
She said Murphy's Toyota Avensis is identifiable on CCTV as part of the convoy going to St Vincent's GAA ground after the shooting.
Responding to the complaints about the uncautioned interviews, Ms Murphy said it is difficult to see what difference a caution would have made. She said there was no illegality or unfairness in the failure to give a caution. Mr Justice John Edwards presiding, with Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy and Mr Justice Michael MacGrath, reserved the court's judgment.
David Byrne (33) was shot and killed during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel on the Swords Road, Whitehall, Dublin 9 on February 5, 2016. Gunmen, one dressed in drag and others in fake garda uniforms, stormed the hotel in pursuit of members of the Kinahan organised crime group.
Paul Murphy (62), of Cherry Avenue, Swords, Co Dublin was jailed for nine years following his conviction for facilitating the shooting by acting as a getaway driver. Bonney (53) of Drumnigh Wood, Portmarnock, Dublin 13 received eight-and-a-half years for the same offence.
Following their trial, Ms Justice Tara Burns at the Special Criminal Court said that the assistance provided by the pair was "significant" in that they carried two members of the hit team from the drop-off point at St Vincent's GAA car park in north Dublin and away from detection. She said Murphy and Bonney had "acted in concert" with another four cars and were part of an operation that involved a high level of planning and coordination.
The three judges found that Bonney was the sole driver of a BMW X5 throughout that day and was driving the jeep at St Vincent's GAA car park when Kevin Murray got into his jeep after the Regency attack. Mr Murray died from motor neurone disease in 2017 before he could be brought to trial.
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