THE JUDGE in the trial of a man alleged to be the getaway driver in a fatal shooting has instructed the jury to find him guilty of murder if it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that he assisted the gunman.
“In this case it is not in any fashion alleged that the accused man was the actual assassin,” Mr Justice Paul Carney told the jury on day eight of the trial. “It’s alleged that he lent material assistance to the actual assassin.”
Liam Bolger (23), of Homelawn Gardens, Tallaght, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Christopher Barry (25) at a bookmakers shop on Killester Avenue, Dublin, in September last year.
The prosecution told the jury the case was one of joint enterprise or common design, and that Mr Bolger was the getaway driver for the gunman.
Instructing the jury that the lesser crime of manslaughter did not arise in this case, Mr Justice Carney said: “If the accused is found by you to have rendered material assistance to the assassin, he is fully responsible for the offence.”
This week the Central Criminal Court was shown CCTV footage from Byrne’s bookmakers on September 13th, 2008. The video showed customers fleeing the shop as the gunman, wearing a motorcycle helmet, entered the bookmakers and pointed in the direction of Mr Barry, who was seated in the corner.
The gunman pursued Mr Barry, who fled to the other side of the shop, and opened fire. He was shot nine times in the six seconds that the gunman was on the premises.
In his closing speech yesterday, Paddy McCarthy SC, prosecuting, said Mr Barry’s murder was carried out with “chilling efficiency”.
He said the gunman left the scene on his motorbike, which he then set fire to around the corner from Killester Avenue, before running to a waiting van which was then driven off.
He reminded the jury of the evidence of a witness, Patrick Drew, who saw the van with the driver inside waiting at Killester Park. After seeing the gunman get into the van, Mr Drew rang gardaí with the van’s registration. They traced the white Renault to Mr Bolger’s address in Tallaght.
Brendan Grehan SC, defending, said the murder of Mr Barry was a professional hit.
“Mr Bolger bought his van and signed for it...yet here you have him going off to commit a murder in its worst possible kind, and he doesn’t even bother to change the registration.”
The facts also supported the suggestion that Mr Bolger was “assisting somebody doing something that he didn’t know was unlawful . . .It’s quite conceivable that you could get involved in something without knowing the exact nature of it.”
The jury will be sent out to consider its verdict on Monday.