Jonathan Dowdall has admitted lying to gardaí about not knowing who was involved in the Regency Hotel attack, but he told the Special Criminal Court that it was a "lie of necessity."
The former Sinn Féin councillor is testifying against Gerry Hutch, who is accused of murdering David Byrne at the hotel in February 2016.
During an interview following Dowdall's arrest three months later, he told the detectives that Mr Hutch never spoke to him about what happened at the Regency.
In his direct evidence on Monday, he claimed Mr Hutch confessed to him a few days after the attack that he was one of the men who shot Mr Byrne.
When asked why he lied to the guards back in 2016, he told the court his family would have been killed if he told them he knew who was involved.
Hotel Room
Jonathan Dowdall has told Gerry Hutch's murder trial that he didn't know what the room he had a hand in booking at the Regency Hotel was to be used for.
In October, he was jailed for facilitating the murder of David Byrne at the hotel after admitting to making the room available to the criminal organisation behind the attack.
On the night before the Regency attack, Jonathan Dowdall and his father, Patrick, drove to the hotel to pay for a room his wife had booked.
He claims they then dropped the key card off to Gerry Hutch on Richmond Rd.
The room was later used by one of the gunmen and under cross-examination, Jonathan Dowdall insisted he didn’t know what it was going to be used for.
If that was the case, Mr Hutch’s barrister asked why he would plead guilty to a criminal offence. Dowdall said it was Gerry’s brother, Patsy, who asked his father to book the room and he said they were reckless for not asking any questions.
While being interviewed by gardai three months after the shooting, Dowdall told the detectives he likes and respects Gerry Hutch.
When asked if Gerry ever spoke about the Regency, Dowdall says: 'No, he never spoke to me in regard to the Regency.'
When asked if he ever would discuss it with him, Dowdall says: 'No, sure why would he? I’m not a criminal.'
Reporting by Frank Greaney
