A law professor, Diarmuid Phelan, shot an unarmed trespasser in the back of the head during an incident on his farm in Co Dublin, a jury at the Central Criminal Court has been told.
Róisín Lacey SC said two shots were fired into the air by Mr Phelan and a third penetrated the body of Keith Conlon during the incident on February 22nd 2022.
The prosecution case is, when the third shot was fired, the deceased was shot in the back of the head as he turned away and, in the circumstances, Mr Phelan had the requisite intent for murder, counsel said.
Mr Phelan had told gardaí he believed, if he had not reacted immediately, “he would have got me” and that he was “terrified”, “stressed” and “scared shitless”.
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The defence case, as the prosecution understood it, was Mr Phelan was entitled to discharge his firearm, a Smith & Wesson revolver, as he did; it constituted a legitimate act of self-defence and was not done with intent to penetrate the body of Mr Conlon.
The defence case was penetration was an unintended result due to factors including inaccuracy of the weapon, repeated firing, its light weight and heavy trigger pull, a combination of fear and stress, and movement of the deceased.
Ms Lacey was opening the prosecution case on Wednesday against Mr Phelan, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Conlon (36) at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, Co Dublin, on February 24th 2022. Mr Conlon was pronounced dead on February 24th after being critically injured two days earlier.
Aged 56, Mr Phelan is a senior counsel and law professor at Trinity College, Dublin, the court has heard.
Ms Lacey said Mr Conlon and two other men were fox bolting, using a dog to hunt down badgers and foxes, when trespassing on the farm on February 22nd 2022.
Mr Phelan was in another part of the farm working with four farmhands, she said.
They earlier ignored a dog barking but, about 1pm, Mr Phelan, concerned about lambing ewes, went with one farmhand towards the area of the barking.
The prosecution would say, without issuing any warning, Mr Phelan shot a dog with a rifle. The dog, named Vim, belonged to another of the trespassers, Callum Coleman, and was tied to a tree, she said.
Counsel said Mr Phelan retreated back towards where he had come from, followed by the trespassers, and there were heated exchanges and shouting about the dog being shot.
Mr Phelan took out his phone and said he would call gardaí and was shouting at Mr Conlon and Mr Coleman to go, keep their distance and get back, she said.
As they approached, Mr Phelan walked towards them and took out a revolver from a pocket of his jacket, she said.
Neither Mr Coleman nor Mr Conlon had any weapon and the jury would hear from witnesses two shots were fired into the air and the third connected with Mr Conlon.
The prosecution will say Mr Conlon had turned away to leave, was shot in the back of the head, was critically injured and died two days later in hospital.
Gardaí were called and Mr Phelan was arrested at the scene at 1.45pm and interviewed at Tallaght Garda station in the presence of his solicitor. He told gardaí about previous incidents on his lands, there had been trespassers and he had put up fences which were broken down.
He said, on February 22nd 2022, he was working with the farmhands and went down with one when he heard the dog barking, called out but there was no reply.
He told gardaí he saw a dog partially obscured in a bush going towards his sheep and he shot it. He said three men then “exploded” from the bushes, shouting and roaring and talking about getting him, he perceived those as threats and was shaking as he clambered up the bank and got one of the farm workers to call the gardaí.
He told gardaí he was alerted to “the Travellers” coming towards him and the farmhands, she said. Neither of the two men were Travellers, Ms Lacey said.
Mr Phelan had said he told the men he had called gardaí but they kept coming and he believed they were coming to fulfil the “threats” they had made.
He told gardaí he reached for the revolver and shot in the air over their heads and was “stunned” when one man went down. He had a mix of ammunition in the revolver, bullets and birdshot, and had it for vermin control.
He told gardaí he believed, if he had not reacted immediately, “he would have got me” and was “terrified”, “stressed” and “scared shitless”. He told gardaí he was not angry and had not lost his temper.
Counsel said the jury would hear evidence of three 999 calls made to the emergency services, that Mr Phelan brought gardaí to where Mr Conlon was, treated Mr Conlon with a blood clotting powder and told them he had shot Mr Conlon.
The trial continues on Thursday before Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and the jury.
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