‘Nothing to suggest’ Dowdall was in park for Hutch ‘confession’
Phone evidence meet-up claims are examined by senior crime analyst
None of the numbers stand out as being.. used by Gerard Hutch
SARAH SKEDD AT THE SPECIAL CRIMINAL COURT
THERE is “nothing to suggest” Jonathan Dowdall was in a park at the time he said Gerry Hutch confessed to him there, the Special Criminal Court has heard.
Sarah Skedd, a senior crime analyst who was tasked by gardai with investigating phone data in the Regency murder case, was again before the nonjury trial as the proposed final witness for the prosecution yesterday.
Hutch, 59, denies murdering Kinahan cartel associate David Byrne in Dublin’s Regency Hotel on February 5, 2016.
State witness Jonathan Dowdall had alleged to gardai that Hutch confessed to him at a park in Whitehall in Dublin on February 8 – the same day Eddie Hutch was murdered – and that it happened at 11.30am or before midday.
However, yesterday it emerged that Dowdall’s claims of the meet on February 8 cannot be backed up by the phone data at all.
Ms Skedd’s evidence also revealed there did not appear to have been any contact between Dowdall and Hutch via calls or texts on the day prior – the only day that his phone does ping off a mast near the park.
Ms Skedd told the court: “None of the numbers stand out as being potentially used by Gerard Hutch.” The expert analyst, who worked with gardai on this case, did however state her analysis would not have covered any potential contact made on internet-based applications. Under cross-examination from Brendan Grehan SC, defending Hutch, Ms Skedd was asked about numerous cell sites that are within the vicinity of the park in Whitehall.
Dowdall claims he met Hutch there on either February 7 or 8, and the accused confessed to him.
Mr Grehan said there was “no evidence” to support that Dowdall was in the park before midday on the 8th, despite his claims – and the witness agreed.
This is because Dowdall’s phone was pinging off masts close to his home on the Navan Road right up to 12.58pm on the 8th and then in Dundalk after 1pm, Monaghan and then back home for the remainder of the day.
Ms Skedd agreed with Mr Grehan and had earlier said that on the basis of the records of that day there was “no clear opportunity” for Dowdall to meet Hutch in the park in Whitehall.
However, phone data analysis did show that Dowdall’s phone did ping off a cell site at Collins Avenue in Whitehall on the 7th, albeit at 3.16pm.
The time differs from Dowdall’s previous claims
MEETING Witness Dowdall that the meeting with Hutch happened before midday.
Mr Grehan also put it to the witness that there are cell sites that are closer in proximity and that ought to pick up that park.
He asked how it is that the site at Collins Avenue, which is facing in the opposite direction, is the one that picked Dowdall’s phone up on the 7th.
Ms Skedd told the court there are “a lot of variabilities” at play and it is possible that if other masts in the area are busy, then another mast could pick up the signal instead.
In terms of Dowdall’s movements on February 7, Ms Skedd’s evidence reveals his phone last pinged near his h o m e on the Navan Road throughout
the morning, right up to 12.34pm. On Friday the court heard it didn’t ping again until 3.16pm – at the mast in Whitehall – which led Mr Grehan to ask the witness why that would be the case.
Ms Skedd said there “may be many reasons for this” and said a phone could be turned off, be in airplane mode, be out of coverage, or have its data off.
That prompted Mr Grehan to say there was therefore “nothing to suggest” that Dowdall was in the park in Whitehall before 12 o’clock on the 7th either.
Ms Skedd agreed with Mr Grehan that that was the case.
When it comes to Dowdall’s phone emanating from the mast at Collins Avenue near Whitehall, Mr Grehan pointed out that according to Ms Sked’s evidence, further phone data shows his data emanating from Meakstown in Finglas at 3.21pm.
Mr Grehan asserted that “when you take all that together, does it not suggest” Dowdall must have been travelling in a vehicle at this time. Ms Skedd agreed it does “from 15.16 onwards” but argued Dowdall could theoretically have been in the park at a time before
that.