Co Donegal man who shot nephew in land dispute jailed for 18 months

A 69-year-old Co Donegal man who shot his nephew in the arm as he tried to run away during a row over land has been jailed for 18 months.

Anthony Mulhern fired a double-barrelled shotgun at Gary Mulhern during an argument at the entrance to a field in Donegal Town.

Anthony Mulhern, of Ardlenagh, Donegal Town, appeared before Donegal Circuit Court having pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm under the Firearms Act and also assault causing harm.

Judge John Aylmer said the victim was lucky to have escaped with just a pellet in his arm.

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Anthony Mulhern claimed he tried to enter his field on August 27th, 2018 which was rented by Gary Mulhern’s father Gerry. He said that he was stopped by Gary Mulhern, who he claimed struck him with a large stick.

He then slapped his nephew in the face before leaving the scene, saying he was going to call the Garda. However, he instead returned to the scene armed with the shotgun.

Gary Mulhern who is in his 30s, asked the accused if he was going to shoot him “over the head of land.”

Anthony Mulhern fired one shot over the victim’s head before shooting him in the arm as he left the scene. Gary Mulhern was later treated for a gunshot wound in hospital.

Gardaí arrived and found a shotgun sitting against a wall and questioned the accused, who admitted he had fired two shots but insisted they were above his nephew’s head and that he was acting in self-defence.

He was arrested and taken to Ballyshannon Garda station where he was questioned under Section 30 of the Offences Against The State Act.

During interview, he admitted firing the gun “to scare” Gary Mulhern but changed his statement from claiming that he fired above the victim’s head to firing the gun “in his direction.”

Defence counsel Peter Nolan said a long-running dispute over a site of 55 acres of land was at the heart of the incident. He told the court his client had already paid his nephew €40,000 as part of a civil action arising out of the assault and another €15,000 for his nephew to walk away from the lands he rented to Gerry Mulhern.

‘Stupidity’

Mr Nolan asked his client if he realised how dangerous it was in discharging the gun.

Mulhern said he did and he offered his nephew an apology for “my stupidity and not waiting for the gardaí.”

The court was told the victim was not in court and had chosen not to submit a victim impact statement.

Passing sentence, Judge Aylmer said both offences were at the upper end of the scale and deemed the appropriate sentences before mitigation was one of six years in prison for the reckless discharge of a firearm and four years for the assault. However, he said he recognised the accused’s early guilty plea, that he had no previous convictions and had financially compensated his brother and nephew in civil cases.

Taking into account his health issues, that he had a good social history and that he presents as being a low risk of reoffending, he reduced the sentences to four years on the first count and two years and eight months on the second count to run concurrently. He suspended the final two and a half years of the reckless discharge of a firearm sentence and the final 14 months of the assault charge sentence meaning Mulhern was jailed for 18 months.

The court also ordered that the shotgun used in the incident be destroyed.