The victim of a fatal shooting at the home of a Co Mayo farmer last year had been treated for aggressive behaviour and depression, a murder trial heard today.
James Ward, a father-of-eleven, with an address at Carrowbrowne Halting Site, Headford Road, Galway city was shot dead last October by Padraig Nally (61) of Funshinagh, Co Mayo. The defendant is pleading self-defence.
He told the Central Criminal Court sitting in Castlebar today that when he reloaded his shotgun after firing the first of two shots at his victim he contemplated killing himself.
He considered his life not worth living because of his anxiety over repeated incidents with intruders. He told the jury on the fourth day of his trial, he had been made nervous and unable to sleep and work on his farm was being neglected.
"I never intended to shoot anyone in my life," Mr Nally said. "I am sorry for doing it. It happened on the spur of the moment".
Under cross examination by Paul O'Higgins SC, Mr Nally agreed that before the fatal shot he had decided to kill his victim. "I had and I thought I was going to be killed all week myself," Mr Nally said.
Two psychiatrists who treated Mr Ward at University College Hospital, Galway said he had a history of aggressive behaviour. Dr Dympna Gibbons said he had a difficult temper and a history of fighting from a young age. As a bare knuckle boxer he would have inflicted serious injuries.
A man received eighteen stitches after Mr Ward had thrown a cup at him and he was also due in court for threatening a man with a slashhook, the court was told.
Dr Sheila O'Sullivan said Mr Ward had been referred by his GP and had been an in-patient at the hospital for a number of weeks. He had symptoms of depression and was prone to outbursts of compulsive aggressive behaviour. He was afraid he might hurt somebody and wanted help.
Both Dr Gibbons and Dr O'Sullivan agreed with John Jordan BL, prosecuting, that Mr Ward had been co-operative and pleasant in his dealings with them and had been grateful for his treatment.
The defendant told Justice Paul Carney presiding, that after a break-in at his home in February 2004 he had moved his shotgun to the shed because he was afraid he would be shot in his bed.
He said he believed people were calling to his farm pretending to be interested in fishing. A neighbour, Joe Concannon, had checked out one of the cars used by a caller with the Garda and found that it had false number plates, Mr Nally said.
He had become so concerned that he sat in his shed for five months prior to the shooting, for four to five hours a day. "I was afraid ... I had to guard my premises. I was going to fire a shot over their heads to frighten them away".
The accused would sprinkle water on the mud at the gate if he was leaving the house in order to get footprints and his sister would stay with him Friday to Sunday. He would be scared for the rest of the week, he told the jury.
Recalling the fatal shot which killed Mr Ward, the accused said he did not mean to shoot him at the time. "The shot accidentally hit him. I meant to frighten him away".
Mr Nally said he went to where the victim lay on the side of the road and threw the gun on the ground and threw the body across the wall into a field. He did this, he said, because he was afraid of others coming back and killing him "straight out" if they saw the body.
He said people in the locality - one in their 70s another in their 50s - had been tied up in their beds and robbed at night. And he said two men were killed about eight miles from his home, in Kilmaine.
"One got a knife in the stomach and died from the injuries. The two were saying the rosary when they were broken into for money in the night. That was going through my mind all the time".
He said the Sunday before the shooting he knew something was going to happen that week and cried when his sister left. "I had that feeling in my mind that I'd be found dead. I couldn't sleep I thought I'd have to shoot myself. I couldn't live with it anymore. I was in fear the whole time."
His sister Ms Maureen Nally told the court that she had noticed changes in her brother's work habits and behaviour after a chainsaw, which she had bought for him had been stolen.
In the Spring of 2004 she had noticed he was neglecting his farm duties and the situation got worse in July and August. Her brother had changed from being an outgoing person to someone who wasn't interested in his work and would leave farm work unfinished.
He would sleep a lot at weekends when she was there which was totally out of character for him. She recalled that on All-Ireland Sunday of 2004 when Mayo was playing she wanted her bother to watch the match at her house.
But he refused, saying: "'The bastards are around. I'm not leaving this house again'".
Ms Nally said her brother was agitated and frustrated and she was worried about him.
Mr Justice Carney told the 12-person jury that would likely on Wednesday before to consider their verdict.