Child cowered under table with dog after father shot

A child cowered under the dining room table with the family dog as her father was shot dead in their home, an inquest has heard.

James Talbot (46), a father-of-four from Lucan in Dublin, was fatally wounded at his frontdoor on February 13th, 2014 and later died in hospital.

He had been watching television beforehand with his wife Linda Talbot, who noticed a shadow outside at about 10.20pm.

“There was no knock. Jim got up and went to the door. I went behind him. He opened the front door then tried to push it closed again,” said Ms Talbot.

She said gun shots then rang out and her husband went down on one knee.

“I didn’t see the gunman, my eyes were fixed on Jim. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” her statement to Dublin Coroner’s Court said.

The man’s daughter Shannon Talbot was upstairs in a bedroom with her sister. When she heard “two loud bangs” she ran downstairs.

“The front door opened and I saw someone shoot my Dad,” she said. “Mam was shouting to get the children upstairs. My little sister was hiding under the dining room table with the dog.”

Lights off

An off duty garda who lived nearby noticed a car he did not recognise enter the estate with its lights turned off. He heard gunshots and saw a man get into a car parked outside the Talbot home and drive away.

Emergency services were called and the injured man was rushed to Connolly Hospital where he died a short time later.

The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds according to a postmortem.

Mr Talbot had three phones and was in the process of setting up two businesses, the court heard.

No suspect has been identified in relation to the shooting, Garda Inspector Mark O'Neill told coroner Dr Myra Cullinane. Gardaí had not been aware of any threat to the man's life.

The getaway car, a gold Toyota Avensis, was discovered on fire around 1km away on Earlsfort Road within minutes.

A firearm which had been stolen two weeks earlier was found inside the car. The jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing by person or persons unknown.