THE SHOOTING dead of a 27-year-old west Clare man in the front garden of a Kilrush home may have been as a result of an ongonig feud with another man.
Last night, gardaí were continuing to detain a 24 year old after the shooting of Leslie Kenny (27) at O’Gorman St, Kilrush at about 10.30am yesterday.
It is believed that Mr Kenny suffered four gunshot wounds, which would have required his assailant to reload the licensed double barrel shotgun. The weapon has been recovered by gardaí.
Gardaí believe that Mr Kenny went to the home of the suspect in the case as part of a dispute between the two that has been continuing for the past two weeks.
A female phoned gardaí at about 10.30am to say that there was a struggle going on in the garden of a house in O’Gorman Street between two men.
When gardaí arrived they discovered Mr Kenny’s body in the garden.
The man who presented himself at Kilrush Garda station shortly after refused to talk to gardaí pending the arrival of his solicitor.
The scene was yesterday sealed off to allow the area be examined by members of the Garda Technical Bureau, while a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice confirmed that State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy would be carrying out the postmortem.
The man was arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and can be held up to three days in custody.
Yesterday, the mayor of Kilrush, Cllr Marion McMahon Jones (FG) said: “The entire community is in a state of shock. We have never had a fatal gun shooting before in the town. She added: “It is a tragedy for everyone concerned and leaves two families devastated. There are no winners in this.”
One local man said, “This is a grand street and I have lived here all my life. Despite the problems the town has had, this kind of thing is still shocking. And it is very shocking that something like this can happen in broad daylight on your own street where there are children playing and people doing their everyday business.”
Local Fine Gael member of Clare County Council, Gabriel Keating said: “This is an awful tragedy and it is a pity that it happened in Kilrush which has been very quiet in recent times . . . This is a tragedy for the family and relatives of the dead man and no doubt the gardaí will be seeking the public’s assistance with their investigation and I would hope the people will assist them where possible.”
A known drug user, Mr Kenny was well known to gardaí and had 48 previous convictions – mainly for minor offences – and had only recently come out of prison.
Mr Kenny’s most recent previous conviction was a two month jail term he received at the start of the month at Kilrush District Court. He has also served sentences for assaulting a garda and for the possession of a knife.
In 2005, Mr Kenny was given a five-month jail term arising from a disturbance in a court room in Ennis which forced a district judge to retreat to his chambers.
Arising from the incident, Mr Kenny pleaded guilty to assaulting Raymond Donovan (27) of New Houses, Cooraclare who has since been convicted of the murder of Kilrush woman, Ann Walsh (23).