A law professor who told gardaí he fired his revolver in the air over the heads of trespassers on his farm and was “stunned when one man went down” won bronze in three pistol competitions and received a gold medal in rifle discipline, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
However, the secretary of the National Association of Sporting Rifle and Pistol Clubs (NASRPC) agreed under cross-examination that leading barrister Diarmuid Phelan was in the beginners’ category of competitors, and had achieved “a somewhat pedestrian score” when he came third in a five-shot or small bore pistol competition.
The witness also agreed with the defence that the accused man had not been unsafe when handling guns during these competitions.
In her opening address, Roisin Lacey SC, prosecuting, said the jury will hear evidence that on the day in question, three men – the deceased, Keith Conlon, along with Kallum Coleman and Robin Duggan – had trespassed on a wooded area of Mr Phelan’s land while hunting foxes or badgers.
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Mr Phelan (56), has pleaded not guilty to murdering father-of-four Keith “Bono” Conlon (36) at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, Dublin 24 on February 24th, 2022.
Giving evidence today, Nigel Barrett, secretary of the NASRPC, told Sean Guerin SC, defending, about the quality of the accused’s shooting.
Mr Barrett referenced a B class bronze medal in June 2013 and said the accused’s score was 250 out of 300. He said this would be an “average best kind of score”, and that to be competitive at that distance, a shooter would be scoring in the high 290s.
Referring to Mr Phelan’s score in July 2013 where he came third with a B class bronze medal, Mr Barrett said the accused’s score of 325 out of 400 would be a “somewhat pedestrian score”. “It’s not a bad score, but being competitive at this discipline would be in the 380s/390s,” he said.
The witness agreed it was possible the accused was third best of three in the B class competition, and possibly he came last and got a medal for it.
Ms Lacey told the jury that it was extremely likely that the prosecution would be in a position to close its case in the morning.
The 12 jurors were told by the State in its opening address that Mr Phelan had said he was shaking with fear and “scrambled” up a bank to get away, but when the deceased man Keith Conlon and Mr Coleman kept coming, he believed they were “coming to fulfil the threats they had made”.
In her opening speech, Ms Lacey said she expects the defence case to be that the accused was entitled to discharge the firearm in a legitimate act of self-defence.
The defence will say that it was not done with the intention of causing the bullet to penetrate Mr Conlon’s body and that the penetration was an accidental, unintended result, she stated.
The State’s case, Ms Lacey highlighted, is that when the third shot was fired, the gun was pointed in the direction of the deceased, who was shot in the back of the head when he had turned away to leave. “In those circumstances, we say the accused intended to kill or cause serious injury,” counsel said.
The trial continues tomorrow before Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford and a jury of nine men and three women, when it is expected that the prosecution will close its case.
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