AN ACCOUNTANT has said he plans to sue a former Sinn Féin councillor who tortured and waterboarded him in his garage.
Alex Hurley (30) said his "life ended that night" when he was interrogated at Jonathan Dowdall's house, adding: "I have only been existing ever since."
Dowdall (40) and his father Patrick (60), of Navan Road in Dublin, are currently in custody awaiting sentence after admitting false imprisonment and threatening to kill Mr Hurley in January 2015.
Speaking to the Sunday World, Mr Hurley told how he was warned: "Half of me would be fed to the dogs and the other half would be wrapped in cellophane bags and brought to Tyrone."
Mr Hurley said he came in contact with Dowdall after the former councillor advertised the sale of a BMW motorcycle.
The torture only came to light when gardaí were searching Dowdall's home as part of another investigation and discovered a USB flash drive containing footage.
Mr Hurley said: "I didn't go to the guards because my parents were threatened and after he had stated that he was the head of the IRA I didn't want to put my parents at risk."
The court previously heard that Dowdall believed Mr Hurley was going to defraud him after finding a post online.
Mr Hurley insists that the post was "bogus", claiming he has never been convicted of fraud.
But the Westmeath man admitted to having been convicted of theft, arising from an incident involving a former employer in Galway when he was aged 22.
