A man was jailed for life yesterday for murdering a friend he shot in the chest after a five-day drinking binge. James Keane (20) pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court in Limerick yesterday to the murder of Stephen Carey (23) at College Avenue, Moyross, on June 13th, 2004.
Keane. with an address at Craeval Park, Moyross, had denied the charge but the court heard yesterday he had changed his plea to guilty and he hoped the dead man's family might one day "find it in their hearts" to forgive him. The victim's girlfriend and mother of his two sons said she could never forgive him.
Garda Darragh Maguire gave evidence that Keane, the deceased, Gary Carey, and others had been drinking heavily outside a house at College Avenue in Moyross. A row started between Keane and the Careys, the court heard. Later, Keane left and returned with a sawn-off shotgun. Another row ensued between Keane and Stephen Carey. The accused was upset the deceased would not shake hands with him after their argument.
To protect his brother, Gary Carey told Keane "Shoot me - don't shoot my brother." Keane took two cartridges out of the shotgun and went into the house where he reloaded the gun.
He returned and fired at Stephen Carey, hitting him in the chest.
He then turned the shotgun on Gary Carey and fired once, narrowly missing Mr Carey who ran towards the house. After fleeing the scene, Keane hid the shotgun at the back of a house and hid his clothes elsewhere.
Stephen Carey was taken by ambulance to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital where he died during emergency surgery from wounds suffered to his chest and stomach. Garda Maguire gave evidence that Keane, who was arrested and brought to Mayorstone Garda station for questioning, had initially denied all knowledge of the shooting.
Following talks with his mother and aunt, he gave gardaí a full account of the shooting and told them where they could find the gun and the clothes.
Garda Maguire said Keane came from a good family and the whole family had co-operated with the investigation.
He had a few previous convictions for offences including possession of drugs and assault.
Mr Brendan Nix SC, defending, said a group had been drinking at the house on College Avenue for five days.Gardaí had previously called to the house to warn the people gathered there about their behaviour.
Mr Nix read an extract from Keane's statement to gardaí in which he said: "Tell Louise, I didn't mean to kill her boyfriend. Tell her it was a pure accident and I didn't mean to pull the trigger."
Mr Nix said he wanted to put it on the record that he had no indication his client was going to change his plea to guilty, adding that he did it of his own volition to put perspective on his actions.