A SECOND witness in a murder trial in Dublin has retracted his statement which implicates the accused, stating he made it because he was in fear of gardaí.
Jonathan Douglas (27), of O’Devaney Gardens, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to the murder of Aidan Byrne at Drumalee Avenue in Dublin on February 20th, 2010.
Andrew Sheridan said in evidence during day four of the trial of Mr Douglas that his initial statement to gardaí on March 6th, 2010, was “not true”.
He told Michael O’Higgins SC, defending, he felt “intimidated and fear” when up to 10 gardaí called to his house two weeks after the shooting of Mr Byrne as they found him in possession of two small bags of cocaine and some hash.
“They found some cocaine and some hash in my house, and I thought then I was in serious trouble,” said Mr Sheridan, who is the boyfriend of the accused’s step-niece Stacey Douglas.
Mr Sheridan said he was asked to go to the Bridewell Garda station to make a statement about the shooting of Mr Byrne, as gardaí told him they were aware the accused had come to his and Ms Douglas’s house moments after the shooting.
“They told me Stacey had said Jonathan had come to our house with a gun, and if I said the same thing I’d be gone home, so I went along with them with the statement,” said Mr Sheridan.
He denies he was afraid to give evidence in the trial, and denies he was forced to retract his statement.
In his original statement to gardaí, which was read out in court by Gerard Clarke SC, prosecuting, Mr Sheridan said Mr Douglas called to the house at about 9pm on Saturday, February 20th, 2010. He said there was a knock on the door and some taps on the window before Ms Douglas opened the door and asked Mr Douglas, whose nickname is Yuka, what did he want and what was he after doing.
“He had the hood of his top pulled over his head, and he just said to me ‘alright’ and he went into the kitchen with Stacey,” Mr Sheridan said in his statement.
“I could hear Stacey asking him ‘who were you after fighting with’ and ‘what are you after doing’,” the statement continued.
“He seemed agitated and started to wash his hands in the kitchen sink. He had a pale complexion when he walked into the sittingroom. He stood there for about 30 seconds and looked dazed and confused.”
Mr Sheridan told gardaí Mr Douglas “pulled up his hoodie top, winked and me and showed me a gun in the waistband of his tracksuit”.
“He was definitely doing this to show off, to be a hard man, and he definitely didn’t wink at me to threaten me or anything. Then he left the house.”
The trial continues.