The Court of Appeal has upheld the convictions of two men found guilty of acting as getaway drivers in the Regency Hotel attack during which Kinahan cartel member David Byrne was killed.
Jason Bonney (55) and Paul Murphy (64) were tried alongside Gerry Hutch at the three-judge, non-jury Special Criminal Court in 2022. Hutch was acquitted of the murder of Byrne but Bonney and Murphy were convicted of facilitating the Hutch criminal organisation in carrying out the murder.
Delivering judgment at the Court of Appeal on Monday, Mr Justice John Edwards said he was not satisfied to uphold any of the grounds of appeal – whether shared or individual – and therefore dismissed both men’s appeals against their convictions. He noted that Murphy had advanced 38 grounds of appeal, while Bonney had put forward eight.
Byrne (33) was shot and killed during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel on the Swords Road, Whitehall, Dublin, on February 5th, 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.
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Murphy, 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, of Drumnigh Wood, Portmarnock, Dublin 13, received 8½ years for the same offence. They had both pleaded not guilty.
At the appeal hearing in October 2024, 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.
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 he was facilitating a serious offence. Counsel said there was evidence that Murphy knew Gerry 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.
In dismissing the appeal on Monday, Mr Justice Edwards said he was satisfied that the evidence “both direct and circumstantial”, before the Special Criminal Court, was capable of supporting the finding that Murphy had knowledge of the existence of the Hutch Criminal Organisation. He said the Court of Appeal considered that finding “unassailable”.
Mr Condon had also argued that interviews gardaí conducted with his client prior to his arrest should have been ruled inadmissible because gardaí had failed to caution him or to tell him he was entitled to a solicitor. Brian McInerney SC, for Bonney, also argued his client’s interview without caution should have been ruled inadmissible.
Mr Justice Edwards rejected this ground of appeal on Monday, saying the Special Criminal Court gave “cogent” and “compelling” reasons for ruling the interviews were admissible.
Mr Justice Edwards said it was clear that Murphy’s and Bonney’s respective trials were “satisfactory” and that their verdicts were “safe”.
Ms Justice Tara Burns, at the Special Criminal Court, said 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 vehicle at St Vincent’s GAA car park when Kevin Murray got into his jeep after the Regency attack. Murray died from motor neurone disease in 2017 before he could be brought to trial.
