Man (44) released without charge after Cork shooting

A 44-year-old man who was arrested for questioning about the fatal shooting of a man in Cork city last month has been released without charge.

Detectives arrested the man in Ballyphehane on the city's southside at around 10.30am on Wednesday and brought him to Togher Garda Station for questioning about the death of Diarmuid Byrne.

Mr Byrne (41) died instantly after he suffered a gunshot wound to the head while with a friend in an upstairs room of his house at Plunkett Road in Ballyphehane in Cork on April 26th.

The friend rang the emergency services who raced to the scene but Mr Byrne, a single man who lived alone in the terraced house, was pronounced dead at the scene by a local doctor.

The friend was deeply traumatised but explained to gardaí that he had discharged Mr Byrne’s legally held shotgun without realising the weapon was loaded and had accidentally shot his friend.

Mr Byrne's body was examined at the scene by Assistant State Pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster before it was removed to the morgue at Cork University Hospital for a post-mortem.

Garda suspicions about the exact circumstances surrounding Mr Byrne’s death prompted an investigation which in turn led to the arrest of the 44-year-old man at his home yesterday morning.

The arrest follows the results of ballistics tests by Garda technical experts on Mr Byrne’s legally held shotgun which was sent to Dublin for examination following the fatal shooting incident.

Yesterday’s arrest was made under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act which allows gardaí to detain suspects for up to 24 hours before they have to be charged or released.

The man was held until midnight last night when he was released without charge and gardaí will now prepare a file on the matter for the DPP, a garda spokesman confirmed.