When former Sinn Féin councillor and successful businessman Jonathan Dowdall pleaded guilty to facilitating the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in Dublin in 2016, his life changed forever.
In addition to admitting to a role in a crime which saw the deadly Hutch-Kinahan feud explode, he also agreed to be a witness for the prosecution in the upcoming trial of Gerry Hutch in the Special Criminal Court.
It now looks likely he will enter the Witness Protection Programme and relocate to a new country with a new identity and limited financial support from the State.
He will not be able to return home – or at least not for a long time and even then only in very limited circumstances. And he is likely to spend his life looking over his shoulder, wary of who he might meet and if they might recognise him.
But just who is Jonathan Dowdall and what does his future hold?
How does the Witness Protection Programme work and how many people have been relocated to other countries?
Irish Times Crime Correspondent, Conor Gallagher talks to In The News about the life and crimes of Jonathan Dowdall and the Witness Protection Programme that will now shape the course of his life.
