A man has pleaded not guilty to a murder at a boxing weigh-in at a Dublin hotel in 2016.

Gerry Hutch, 59, is charged with the murder of David Byrne, 34, at the Regency Hotel on 5 February 2016.

The killing made international headlines after five gunmen, three disguised as armed police, stormed a boxing weigh-in at the hotel armed with assault rifles.

The court heard that Mr Byrne’s murder was carried out by a well-resourced organisation as part of the feud between the Hutch and Kinahan organised crime groups, which to date has seen 18 people murdered.

Dressed in a navy blazer and light blue shirt, and listening with the aid of a headset, Hutch sat with two other defendants as the non-jury Special Criminal Court heard the hotel attack was “performative” and “targeted”.

The prosecution painted a scene of panic and confusion as two separate teams of armed raiders opened fire.

The court heard how a silver Ford Transit van arrived at the Regency Hotel and discharged two men, one wearing a flat cap and another man in a wig, disguised as a woman.

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The duo walked “sometimes arm-in-arm” through the hotel towards the “Clash of the Clans” boxing weigh-in, before opening fire with handguns.

The two attackers pursued people who attempted to escape them.

Meanwhile, three more attackers, dressed in armed police tactical gear, and carrying AK-47-style assault rifles, entered the hotel through the main entrance and opened fire.

There was “further panic” as attendees attempted to escape in opposite directions from the two groups of gunmen.

Prosecuting counsel Sean Gillane outlined how Mr Byrne was shot in the reception area by one of the fake policemen – described as “Tactical One”, before also being shot by “Tactical Two”.

Tactical Two then jumped on to the reception desk and pointed his rifle at another man hiding on the other side, but did not open fire.

Tactical Two then jumped down and “calmly and coldly, discharged further rounds into the head and body” of Mr Byrne.

A post-mortem revealed the cause of death was six high-velocity gunshot wounds to the head, face, abdomen and thighs.

An eyewitness, boxing official Mel Christle, described seeing Mr Byrne’s body slumped “almost resting” against the base of the reception desk.

“It was a body, it was a corpse”, he said. “Its face had been blown off.”

The court heard the attack was highly targeted. The gunman in the wig was heard to shout “I don’t know where he is”, and, “I couldn’t f****** find him”.

In the days following the widely-publicised shooting, the prosecution states that Hutch met with his associate Jonathan Dowdall – a former Sinn Fein councillor – after a photo of two of the gunmen appeared in the Sunday World newspaper.

Hutch was described as being “particularly worked-up and edgy” as he discussed the photo.

The court heard Hutch told Dowdall that he had been “one of the team” that had shot David Byrne.

Hutch asked Dowdall to arrange a meeting with republicans in Northern Ireland as the feud with the Kinahans escalated, the court heard.

The car they travelled in was under Garda [Irish police] surveillance and their conversations were recorded.

The two men discussed a potential peace deal with the Kinahans, the prosecution stated, but Hutch said that “it’s very hard to get involved where the Kinahans are concerned, the messenger gets it”.

Hutch has been in custody for more than a year, after his arrest in the Costa del Sol in August 2021 and extradition to Ireland.

His trial for murder was delayed after the court heard that co-accused Jonathan Dowdall had decided to testify, and was now being assessed for Ireland’s witness security programme.

On Monday, Dowdall received a four-year jail sentence for a lesser charge of facilitating the murder. His father Patrick was jailed for two years.

Two other men, 59-year-old Paul Murphy and 50-year-old Jason Bonney, are also charged with helping with the commission of the murder by providing vehicles.

The trial of the three men is expected to last at least 12 weeks.

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