A former Sinn Féin Councillor has been jailed for twelve years for falsely imprisoning and torturing a convicted fraudster.

Jonathan Dowdall of the Navan Road in Dublin water boarded Alex Hurley because he thought he was trying to con him over the sale of a motorbike.

Justice Isobel Kennedy described what Jonathan Dowdall and his father Patrick did to Alex Hurley in Jan 2015 as “horrendous and terrifying”  Jonathan invited Mr. Hurley to his house for dinner three days after he’d been there to view a motorbike that was for sale.

When he got there, he was pushed into his garage, tied to a swivel chair, water boarded and interrogated for two hours.  Jonathan Dowdall thought Mr. Hurley was fraudulently trying to use his bank details. He and his father were caught the following year when Gardaí found footage of the incident on a USB stick they’d seized from his home.
Their victim could be seen pleading and whimpering in the footage and Ms. Justice Kennedy said the fact it was recorded was “chilling and deeply disturbing”.

She sentenced Jonathan, who told Mr. Hurley he was the head of the IRA, to 12 years in prison, and his father Patrick was jailed for eight years.