Bullet cases found at the Regency Hotel murder scene were fired by three AK-47 assault rifles which were recovered during a Garda operation a month after the fatal shooting of Kinahan cartel member David Byrne, the Special Criminal Court was told on Monday.
The trial heard that a copper jacketed bullet passed through the hotel reception, where the body of Mr Byrne was seen.
Detective Garda David O’Leary was giving evidence at the trial of Gerard Hutch (59), last of The Paddocks, Clontarf, Dublin, who denies the murder of Mr Byrne (33) during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel, Whitehall, on February 5th, 2016.
Giving evidence on Monday, Det Gda O’Leary, who is attached to the ballistics section of An Garda Síochána, told Sean Gillane SC, prosecuting, that there was a crime scene tent erected in the reception area of the Regency Hotel on February 5th. He noted the position of the body of a deceased male lying at the front of the reception counter desk.
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The detective said he noted a number of 7.62 calibre discharged cartridge cases on the floor of the hotel lobby and outside the main door. There was a discharged cartridge case behind the reception area and another on the access ramp outside of the hotel. Two strike marks were noted on the base of the reception desk on the public side, he added. A copper jacketed bullet had passed through the reception and was recovered in the filing cabinet. Another discharged bullet was lodged in the reception counter.
Det Gda O’Leary said he also examined the function room where the weigh-in was hosted and found several discharged cartridge cases. There were “strike marks” in the vicinity of a round table next to the stage, he said.
On March 10th, the witness said he received a bag containing three assault rifles.
Last week, Inspector Padraig Boyce gave evidence that he participated in “an intervention” at Tuiterath, Balrath, Slane, Co Meath on March 9th, 2016, at 7.05pm. Shane Rowan, he said, from Forest Park, Killygordan, Co Donegal, was driving a grey 09 Donegal registered Vauxhall Insignia car and the vehicle was stopped at the side of the road. The vehicle was searched and three assault rifles modelled on original AK-47′s and ammunition were found in the boot of the car. Rowan was arrested for membership of the IRA and possession of the assault rifles and ammunition.
In July 2016, Rowan was jailed for 7½ years for possession of assault rifles and ammunition. He was also sentenced to a concurrent sentence of four years in prison for IRA membership, backdated to March 9th, 2016.
Det Gda O’Leary said the first assault rifle, which was handed to him in the witness box on Monday, was a Chinese variant of the Kalashnikov and was in good working condition. He said it had not been cleaned since it was last discharged, it weighed 3.5kg and its barrel length was 16.5 inches. It was capable of semi-automatic and fully automatic fire.
The Chinese assault rifle, he said, was designed to hold 7.62 by 39mm calibre ammunition, which was similar to the ammunition discovered at the scene of the Regency Hotel.
The second assault rifle, also presented in court to the detective, was a Romanian variant of the Kalashnikov and longer than the previous weapon. It had also not been cleaned since it was last discharged. “It was again designed to discharge 7.62 by 39mm ammunition, similar to the ammunition that was successfully discharged at the hotel,” he said.
The third assault rifle was a Yugoslavian-made Zastava M70 and had been manufactured in the former Yugoslavia. Again, it was designed to discharge 7.62 ammunition, similar to that found at the Regency Hotel, said the witness.
The detective was also given three ammunition magazines by the exhibits officer and he told the non-jury court that these were suitable for use in the three firearms. The magazines were capable of holding 30 rounds of 7.62 calibre ammunition, he said.
Det Gda O’Leary testified that he also examined seven cartridge cases received from the Regency Hotel, which had been manufactured in the former Yugoslavia. He said he was satisfied that the seven items had been discharged from the Romanian weapon.
The witness said he was also satisfied that four cartridge cases, two found in the function room and two located in the lobby, had been discharged from the Yugoslavian firearm.
He also said he was satisfied that a single cartridge case had been discharged from the Chinese type assault weapon.
Under cross-examination, Det Gda O’Leary told defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC, for Mr Hutch, that the Kalashnikov was an automatic rifle and had been invented in Russia in 1947. Asked by counsel how many of these types of weapons are in the world, the witness said he estimated that they run into “tens of millions”.
Det Gda O’Leary said each of the magazines can hold up to 30 rounds of ammunition and that they were all interchangeable.
The three rifles were all mechanically very similar and the detective said that the only difference was that one of them had the stock sawn off. The witness told counsel that he had not examined a video of the tactical team entering the hotel.
When asked about the age of the firearms, the witness said that the Romanian variant had a 1989 stamp adjacent to its serial number. Apart from that there was no way of dating the firearms, he added.
“In an Irish context, are these weapons you have come across?” asked Mr Grehan. “Yes, the Yugoslav weapon is quite prolific as a remnant of the Balkan war,” replied the detective.
Mr Hutch’s two co-accused — Paul Murphy (59), of Cherry Avenue, Swords, Co Dublin, and Jason Bonney (50), of Drumnigh Wood, Portmarnock, Dublin — have pleaded not guilty to participating in or contributing to the murder of David Byrne by providing access to motor vehicles on February 5th, 2016.
Mr Byrne, from Crumlin, Dublin, was shot dead at the hotel in Whitehall, Dublin, after five men, three disguised as armed gardaí in tactical clothing and carrying AK-47 assault rifles, stormed the building during the attack, which was hosting a boxing weigh-in at the time. The victim was shot by two of the “tactical” assailants and further rounds were delivered to his head and body.
In his opening speech, counsel for the prosecution said the court will hear that Mr Hutch’s former co-accused and now State’s witness Jonathan Dowdall said Mr Hutch had said that he [Gerry Hutch] had been one of the team that shot Mr Byrne at the Regency.
The trial continues on Tuesday before Ms Justice Tara Burns, presiding, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Grainne Malone.