A bachelor who denies murdering a Traveller on his 65-acre holding last October has said he enjoyed farming until his home became a target for intruders four years ago.
Giving evidence on the third day of his trial at the Central Court yesterday, Pádraig Nally (61), Funshinagh, Cross, Co Mayo, who is charged with the murder of John Ward (43), a father of 11 children, on October 14th, 2004, spoke of a series of burglaries at his home beginning in 2001.
"I enjoyed (farming) until that," Mr Nally told Mr Justice Paul Carney and a jury. "It got rough on me then. People were calling and taking things on me out of the yard."
Mr Nally said he got so upset and concerned about the situation that he took to throwing water on clay on the footpath at his gate to get footprints.
He recalled that in the 2001 incident his house was broken into and blankets and plates stolen. In February 2004 his back door was kicked down and a chainsaw, which his sister had bought for him in Ballina, was stolen.
Mr Nally said his dressing table, as well as his sister's dressing table, were interfered with. The drawers had been pulled out and stuff tossed around.
Mr Nally said he reported the 2001 incident to the Garda but the station in Ballinrobe was closed when he called to report the February 2004 break-in.
The incidents had made him nervous, Mr Nally said. "I was afraid that somebody would come in the middle of the night and bust me up, break me up."
Mr Nally was in the witness box for about 20 minutes yesterday and is to resume his evidence this morning.
Earlier in the hearing, Det Garda Michael Browne gave evidence that one of the first things Mr Nally said to him when he arrived at the scene of the killing was that he was "thinking of ending it".
Det Garda Michael Conway said he took this to mean that Mr Nally was thinking of suicide. He had said a number of times he was "out of his mind with worry".
The garda witness said that when he arrived at 3.05pm he cordoned off the scene.
Dr Michael Regan had pronounced the man dead at 2.55pm.
Garda Browne said he spoke to the accused man at the gate of his house. Mr Nally told him: "I am not feeling that well. I am thinking of ending it altogether."
Mr Nally told the detective that when he went around to the back of the house he saw a man crouched down pushing in the door. Mr Nally went to the shed, got his gun and shot the man. A struggle developed and, after a while he went back to the shed, saw the man heading down the road and shot him.
The witness said he had arrested Tom Ward, son of the deceased, on suspicion of burglary and brought him to Westport Garda station. Mr Ward did not accept he was at the house to burgle it.
Garda Conway gave details of a question-and-answer interview session with Mr Nally in Castlebar station the following morning.
The accused man said he seen "the young lad" (Tom Ward) at his house before, the previous May or June.
He had been asking for directions to the lake. Later in the interview, Mr Nally said when he asked Tom Ward where was his mate, he knew there was something wrong.
The garda witness recalled Mr Nally saying: "Detective work is detective work. I smelt a rat. When I got up yesterday morning, I knew something was going to happen. I was expecting them back. When my sister left on Sunday evening, I cried. I said to her: 'There will be changes when you're back.' I had a premonition. I had a good idea this was going to happen."
Mr Nally described the fatal struggle. When he saw the man crouching at the back door of his house he recognised him from the Saturday fortnight before, when he was driving a black car and looking for directions to the lake to go fishing.
The accused man asked Mr Ward: "What are you doing in there, you rogue?" and then went to the shed to get his gun.
Mr Nally said when he shot Mr Ward, the victim had gone straight for him but he knocked him to the ground. There was a struggle and they exchanged a few blows. The Traveller was trying to catch him by the collar and pull him down and tried to kick him in the testicles.
Mr Nally said the victim grabbed the gun and tried to hit him with it. Mr Nally caught Mr Ward by the throat and put him against the jamb of the back door. "It was a real movie-type effort," he commented.