Regency attack: Major security plan in place for Jonathan Dowdall sentencing

Former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall is today due to be sentenced for facilitating the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in Dublin.
David Byrne was shot dead when armed men, some of whom were dressed as gardaí, stormed a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in Dublin six years ago.
59-year-old Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch is due to stand trial for his murder tomorrow.
Dowdall was due to stand trial for the murder alongside him; however, he may now give evidence for the prosecution in the upcoming trial.
The murder charge against the 44-year-old was dropped after his plea to the lesser charge of facilitating the murder by booking a room at the hotel was accepted by the DPP.
At his sentence hearing earlier this month, his barrister revealed that Dowdall is in protective custody having given a statement to Gardaí - apparently implicating others in what happened at the Regency Hotel.
The court also heard he is willing to testify.
His father Patrick Dowdall is also awaiting sentence for the same offence.
They will be dealt with by the Special Criminal Court later this morning.