Law professor Diarmuid Phelan walked free from the Central Criminal Court on Friday after a jury found him not guilty of the murder of a man who was shot by Mr Phelan on his Co Dublin farm.
The jury of nine men and three women returned with their unanimous verdict just after 4pm after total deliberations of almost seven hours.
Relatives of the deceased, Keith Conlon, were in court but left immediately after the verdict was delivered. In a statement issued later, they said they were “very hurt and disappointed” at the verdict and would be making no further comment.
Mr Phelan sat impassively as the verdict was read. After the court rose, he was surrounded and hugged by his partner, sisters and other family members and supporters, some in tears.
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A senior counsel and law professor at Trinity College Dublin, Mr Phelan (56) had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Conlon (36) at Hazelgrove farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, on February 24th, 2022.
A father of four, Mr Conlon was critically injured when he was shot by Mr Phelan at the farm on February 22nd and was pronounced dead in hospital two days later.
The trial lasted for 10 weeks, incurring legal costs estimated at up to €2 million.
Mr Phelan was represented by a top-level legal team, including senior counsel Seán Guerin and Michael Bowman, instructed by Arthur McLean LLP Solicitors. His trial costs, including retaining US-based firearms experts, are estimated at up to €1 million and are expected to be addressed at a hearing in March.
The trial heard Mr Conlon was trespassing with two others – Kallum Coleman and Robin Duggan – on the farm. They had two dogs, a lurcher and a terrier, and were apparently engaged in badger baiting.
After Mr Phelan shot the lurcher with his licensed Winchester rifle, there were exchanges with the trespassers and Mr Conlon and Mr Coleman following him up a field.
The prosecution case was that Mr Phelan took his licensed Smith & Wesson revolver from his pocket and fired two shots into the air. When he fired a third shot, Mr Conlon was hit in the back of the head as he turned away. The prosecution contended that, in the circumstances, Mr Phelan had the necessary intent for murder.
Róisín Lacey SC, with John Byrne SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, submitted there was “nothing in the encounter” with the trespassers that could have led Mr Phelan to believe he was being presented with such a threat of force to justify producing the revolver and repeatedly firing it.
Mr Phelan, in interviews with gardaí, said he was “terrified” and believed that if he had not reacted immediately “he would have got me”. He said he fired shots in an arc above the heads of the trespassers and was “stunned” when Mr Conlon fell.
The defence contended the discharge of the firearm was a legitimate act of self-defence not done with intent to penetrate the body of Mr Conlon.
Mr Guerin said his client was “facing imminent attack” by the trespassers who had told him after he shot the dog that he was “f***ed”.
Mr Phelan had “reached for what was at hand, his revolver”, had no time to think and fired three “warning” shots. The third hit and killed Mr Conlon but he never intended to hit him, counsel said.
The defence called US firearms experts in support of their case that some movement of Mr Conlon or of the gun had brought a bullet into unintended contact with Mr Conlon.
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