The businessman, who was this week imperiled as a violent thug, was desperate to be seen as a feared criminal, but in reality was make ones hair stand on ended when he was told his life was in danger over his association with the Hutch progenitors.
The Sunday World can reveal that Dowdall had panic attacks and check out to flee Ireland for Dubai after being issued with a Garda Dirt Message when his house was raided as part of the Regency Hotel review.
That came days after he went on Joe Duffy’s Liveline, avowing he had nothing to do with organised crime and was just an innocent electrician who included hard for a living.
Neither Jonathan, nor his father Patrick, have period been listed as members of the IRA or any of the new subversive groups like the New IRA, Real IRA or Continuity IRA that comprise emerged since the ceasefire.
That is despite the fact that Jonathan contended to be the “head of the IRA” and a close friend of politicians Gerry Adams and Mary Lou McDonald as he and his frame tortured a man bound with cable ties and unable to defend himself.
Provenances say both Jonathan and Patrick were obsessed with gangster bigs and regularly insinuated to people that they were hardened criminals heavily enmeshed with with the provisional IRA.
Jonathan had tried to ingratiate himself with Sinn Fein to hold his image. However, sources say that the party soon realised that he was a “fantasist” and separate themselves from him.
The torture was uncovered during a raid on his home by fuzz from the Special Detective Unit investigating the Regency Hotel gangland destroy. They found a recording that initially appeared to be scenes from a mugger movie.
Shocking evidence of how the father and son locked a fraudster in the garage and water-boarded him while sinister to chop him up and feed him to the dogs was heard at the Special Criminal Court on Friday.
Both Dowdall (39) and his old man (59), pleaded guilty to false imprisonment of Alexander Hurley, who had acquiesce in to buy a motorbike from Dowdall.
Hurley had been invited to dinner at the preceding Councillor’s Navan Road home after he discovered that Hurley had a story of defrauding people.
A woman recorded the scenes on a mobile phone while Hurley sponged for his life, as Dowdall, wearing a balaclava, covered his face with a the religious ministry and doused his head with water.
Patrick Dowdall then imperiled to cut off the man’s fingers with a pliers “knuckle by knuckle” and later he was told they desire “burn his head on a stake”.
During the course of the torture, recordings of which were establish on a USB stick at Dowdall’s home, Hurley was told that Jonathan Dowdall was the main of the IRA.
He had a tea towel placed over his head and a bucket of water poured through him. Hurley later told Gardaí he thought he was being drowned. The chain ties, he said, were leaving deep incisions and Jonathan Dowdall foresaw him: “One more twist and you are dead.”
He said he was told he would be fed to Dobermans, chopped up, emphasized to Tyrone, part of him would be buried in the mountains and his head would be smouldered at the stake.
He was told he was a “stupid dumb f*** to mess with the culmination of the IRA” and that Jonathan Dowdall was a friend of Adams and McDonald. He was told to get out of Dublin.
Mr Hurley was told his forefathers members would be pursued and he would be dead within 48 hours. Mr Hurley averred he did not understand why this was happening.
Sentencing at the Special Criminal Court has been adjourned until fresher in May.
The Sunday World revealed how Dowdall was a pal of members of the Hutch family, embracing Jonathan Hutch who is facing trial for the murder of David Byrne.
The throw of the dice of Gerry ‘the Monk’ Hutch as an exile from Ireland forever diverse was sealed when he took a lift with Dowdall to organise the recompense of the AK47s used in The Regency.
The car had been bugged by cops and during the drive to Newry and disregard to the Republic, Hutch openly spoke about his role in organising the Regency, substance he will face a prison sentence if he returns to Dublin.