Two men guilty of murdering dissident Peter Butterly

Two Dublin men have been found guilty of the “brutal and premeditated” murder of dissident republican Peter Butterly four years ago.

Mr Butterly (35) was shot dead on March 6th, 2013 outside The Huntsman Inn, Gormanston, Co Meath in an incident which the at the Special Criminal Court heard was an “ambush”.

Four men were originally charged with the murder. One of the men, David Cullen, subsequently turned State witness, and his murder charge was dropped.

The fourth man, Dean Evans (24), of Grange Park Rise, Raheny, Dublin, failed to turn up for the trial, and was not located by gardaí.

Edward McGrath (35), of Land Dale Lawns, Springfield, Tallaght and Sharif Kelly (47), of Pinewood Green Road, Balbriggan had both denied the murder.

The court heard the men were arrested by gardaí after what Mr Justice Tony Hunt described as a “callous, brutal and premeditated murder” in which both had performed “their assigned roles”.

McGrath, wearing a disguise of a black wig, had driven a stolen silver Toyota Corolla, which was being watched by members of the Garda National Surveillance Unit, to the Huntsman Inn carpark.

It was alleged that Dean Evans was a passenger in the back of the car, behind the driver’s seat, and that he shot Mr Butterly.

Black handgun

One woman, who lived opposite the pub, saw a man holding a small black handgun. A student waiting at a nearby bus-stop saw two people sprinting away from a car. One was chasing the other and the second man raised an arm and shot the first man.

The court was satisfied, Mr Justice Hunt said, that Mr Butterly was “shot in the carpark by means of a gun fired by Dean Evans”. Mr Evans, he added, was driven to and from the scene by McGrath.

“It was an ambush by people who expected Mr Butterly would be present in the carpark,” he said, adding that the shooting had required a “considerable degree of forethought”.

McGrath then drove the Corolla away from the carpark and up Flemington Road. He stopped the car in a laneway. The court heard that this was where the car was to be destroyed.

A garda who had been pursuing the car performed what he told the court was a “tactical stop”, ramming the back of the Corolla.

Firelighters

McGrath and Mr Evans were ordered out of the car with the latter holding two cigarette lighters. The car was searched and gardaí found a box of firelighters had been spread throughout it. They also found a petrol can, gloves, a wig and glasses.

Another car then came on the scene. It was a green Opel Zafira, driven by Kelly. The car was stopped and Kelly was arrested. A plastic bag containing a change of clothes was found in the Zafira’s boot and there was a duvet draped over the back seat.

Kelly told gardaí he had been feeding his daughter’s pony at a nearby stable and that while he was driving away his car had “conked out”. The court heard tests later carried out on the car detected “no faults” and Mr Justice Hunt said the court rejected Kelly’s account as “inherently improbable and actually untruthful”.

Further down the road, outside Gormanston College, gardaí had also stopped Mr Cullen, who was seen picking up a bag thrown from the Toyota Corolla in which there was a black semiautomatic pistol.

Firearms residue found on Mr Evans’ sweater showed “strong support” for the view that he shot Mr Butterly and residue was also found on a jacket taken from McGrath, suggesting he had been in the vicinity of the shooting.

It was the second trial of McGrath and Kelly. The first trial collapsed in January 2015 after 55 days.

Mr Justice Hunt, sitting with Judge John O’Hagan and Judge Ann Ryan, remanded McGrath and Kelly in custody until April 7th, when they will be sentenced.