THE SON of a man who was shot dead after confronting a group of youths who had egged his house, has told the murder trial his father had been “harassed by teenagers for months on end”.
Dylan O’Kane (26), was giving evidence on the opening day of the murder trial of 18-year-old Conor Duffy, who has denied murdering Aidan O’Kane at East Wall in Dublin when he was aged 16.
Mr O’Kane (50), a mechanic, died in December 2008 after being shot in the chest.
Mr Duffy, of St Mary’s Road, East Wall, has also denied unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, and having a firearm without a licence.
The Central Criminal Court heard Aidan O’Kane had befriended a large group of local teenagers when he first moved to East Wall a year prior to his death.
He would fix bikes and motorbikes for them, and also take drugs with them in his house.
In his evidence, Mr O’Kane jnr told the court his father had suffered “months of torment” from local youths, and on the night in question had decided to “get one of them” after eggs were thrown at his house on the evening of December 7th, 2008.
Mr O’Kane said he tried to talk him out of it, but his father put on a leather jacket and a black balaclava and armed himself with a retractable baton.
When his father left the house, the witness heard a teenager scream: “He has a gun.” Mr O’Kane had also changed into a leather jacket but denied he intended to help his father get one of the youths, and said he only wanted to ensure his father did not get beaten up by a group.
He saw his father walk into a laneway between Bargy Road and Shelmalier Road, and by the time the witness got there his father was crouched down with the baton facing Conor Duffy, whom he said was pointing a gun at his father.
He heard a shot and then saw Mr Duffy running away, as his father fell to his knee and then on to his back.
When he ran to his side, he was having trouble breathing and was unable to talk. He lifted his father’s shirt but could not see where he had been shot. He shouted at a neighbour to call for an ambulance.
He put his father on his side and kept talking to him until paramedics arrived.
During his cross-examination, Seán Gillane, defending, asked Mr O’Kane whether his father had put on the balaclava in order to intimidate the youths.
“He covered his face to become scarier. If you are going up against a gang of young people you do anything you can,” he responded.
The witness denied his father was “anxious” to create the impression he had a gun, but admitted the teenagers may have believed he had a firearm because someone had screamed “He has a gun”. When asked why his father had said “I’ll blast yis”, Mr O’Kane said his father was probably replying to or “mirroring” threats the teenagers were making to him.
Mr O’Kane admitted he told a local youth to get rid of the baton his father had been carrying because he didn’t want his father “to get into trouble”. He said he found out only after his father’s death there had been complaints from gardaí about drug-taking at his house.
The case resumes today before Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan.