Two men accused of helping a criminal gang murder a Kinahan gang member at the Regency Hotel in Dublin six and a half years ago were part of a convoy that helped the gunmen escape, the Special Criminal Court has heard.
Paul Murphy, aged 61, of Cherry Avenue, Swords in Dublin and 50-year-old Jason Bonney of Drumnigh Wood, Portmarnock in Dublin have pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Gerard Hutch, aged 59, of the Paddocks in Clontarf has pleaded not guilty to murder.
The court was told that on the day of the murder before the gun attack, Mr Murphy drove his taxi into Buckingham Village in Dublin's north inner city and that a swipe card used to access it was found when gardaí searched his car.
It was one of four missing from a box of the cards and the sequence number on it was next to the number on a card found when gardaí searched Patsy Hutch's home in Champions Avenue.
The court has already been told that this was a location where vehicles became operative on the morning of the murder, including a Black BMW X5 Jeep associated with Mr Bonney and Mr Murphy’s light green Toyota Avensis taxi.
Detective Inspector Brian Hanley told the court today that CCTV footage showed Mr Murphy’s taxi arriving at Buckingham Village and leaving followed by a silver Transit van.
The court has already heard that the six gunmen arrived and left the Regency Hotel in a silver Transit van which was found burned out in the Charlemont estate.
The detective said that Mr Murphy's taxi can be seen before the murder at 1.41pm that day leaving the car park at the Beachcomber Pub in Killester and joining in convoy with the BMW X5 driven by Mr Bonney and a Skoda registered to a member of the Hutch family.
He said the cars went to St Vincent’s GAA club, parked up and remained there until the six gunmen from the Regency ran to them through a laneway and escaped.
The court has already been told that it is the state’s contention that one of the gunmen, Kevin Murray, the now deceased dissident republican, got into the X5 jeep and was driven away.
Memos of Garda interviews were read to the court today in which Mr Murphy confirms CCTV footage of himself and his taxi at the Beachcomber that day.
He also told the gardaí that he had bought the taxi off Eddie Hutch, the brother of Gerard Hutch who was shot dead as part of the ongoing feud with the Kinahan Organised Crime Group.
In reply to Garda questions he said he bought the car off Eddie and paid him €175 cash a week for a year before he owned it.
The car, an Avensis taxi, was seized by the gardaí eleven days after the Regency attack.
The court also heard today that Mr Bonney told gardaí that he had "a very busy day" on the 5 February 2016, the day David Byrne was shot dead.
He said he did not drive into town that day or "near the Regency", he was involved in construction work; concrete was being poured that day and the furthest he would have gone was to Chadwicks in Coolock.
He also told the gardaí that he was friends with the Hutch’s and friends with both sides although he had "never met Daniel Kinahan".
"To the best of my recollection, I didn’t speak to either of them that day," he told the gardaí.
Earlier the court head that Mr Murphy had said in a statement to the gardaí that he hadn’t loaned his car to anyone and he was the only one driving it on the day of the murder.
He said he heard about the shooting on the three o'clock news and thinks he was on the North Circular Road in Dublin in his taxi when he heard it.
He said he drove to Drumcondra but the "traffic was mental" so he went home and did not work.
In a second statement over a week later later he told the Garda that his taxi could have been cloned.
He said he had recently received two speeding fines but he "wasn’t inclined" to speed because of his job and another fine for throwing a cigarette butt out the window but he had never littered.
He said he had not paid the fines and also reiterated that he had no information on the shooting at the Regency Hotel.
The court was told today that on 30 May 2016, Mr Murphy was arrested for involvement in the murder of David Byrne and was interviewed by gardaí.
Mr Murphy also told the gardaí during the interviews at Ballymun Garda Station that he was the second eldest of 11 children, six boys and five girls.
He said he was originally from Sean Mc Dermot Street, left school after primary and joined the army at 15 years of age where he became a three star private.
After he left he worked in Dunnes Stores, then became a bar apprentice in Jury’s and Madigans before going on to work for the Irish Press, delivering newspapers on scooters.
After eight months he moved into security and worked for a number of companies before he got his taxi licence and has worked in the business for over 20 years.
Earlier the three judges heard evidence from gardaí attached to the National Surveillance Unit.
The trial continues next week.
