A prosecution witness who “legged it” to Spain and failed to give evidence in the trial of barrister Diarmuid Phelan, who was acquitted of murdering a trespasser on his farm, has been jailed for four months.
Kallum Coleman (24) appeared before a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork on Monday to face a contempt of court hearing.
On January 3rd, Mr Phelan (56) walked free from the Central Criminal Court after a jury found him not guilty of the murder of Keith Conlon (36) at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght in February 2022.
Mr Conlon suffered a fatal gunshot injury to his head when he trespassed on Mr Phelan’s land on February 22nd, 2022.
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Roisin Lacey, SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said on Monday that Coleman was an “eyewitness” whose importance to the case could not be overstated.
Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford said that, arising out of the seriousness of the case, it was “incumbent” on Coleman to appear in court to give evidence in relation to the death of his friend Mr Conlon.
“His [Coleman’s] evidence would have been described as crucial. He had been present at the scene [of the shooting]. The contempt is of a serious nature. It was a murder trial.”
Ms Justice Lankford said Coleman failed to answer his witness order and went to Spain. He was due to give evidence in court last October.
Ms Justice Lankford said that she was not saying that the prosecution failed because Coleman wasn’t present. However, she stated that his evidence was vital given that he had been “side by side” with Mr Conlon.
Ms Justice Lankford took the guilty plea into consideration when sentencing. She noted that defence barrister Tim O’Leary had cited as a mitigating factor in the case that his client was extremely stressed and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of having witnessed the death of his friend.
However, she said that many people suffer from stress or PTSD but still manage to attend court to give evidence.
The presiding judge made reference to evidence she heard on Monday afternoon from Det Sgt Michael McGrath who said that he and another garda flew to Marbella in Spain on November 5th, 2024, in a bid to speak to Coleman. She said that any evidence of what occurred in Spain was not relevant to the hearing.
Dt Sgt McGrath had told her that when they found Coleman at a hotel in Marbella on November 6th, they told him a bench warrant had been issued for him. He said that Coleman said he wanted to come back to deal with the arrest warrant.
However, when they were on the way to the airport and stopped to get refreshments Coleman exited the car and ran.
Dt Sgt McGrath said that Coleman had told him he would kill himself rather than give evidence in the case. He said he told Coleman it was in his “best interest” to return to Ireland with gardaí but the young man was aware that it was a choice and that gardaí were not in a position to arrest him outside of the jurisdiction.
Det Sgt McGrath said that Coleman had told him that “under no circumstances” would he give evidence in the case.
“He said he would rather kill himself than give evidence.”
The court heard that Coleman was eventually detained by gardaí when a car he was travelling in was stopped by gardaí on the Naas road in Dublin on January 2nd last.
Gardai indicated that Coleman was brought to Tallaght Garda Station. However, he ran out a side door of the station on to a busy motorway while being followed by gardai. He successfully escaped but surrendered by arrangement five days later.
Coleman apologised for his actions.
Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford said that a custodial sentence needed to be imposed in the case. She said that a fine was not a suitable option for such a serious case.
She jailed Coleman for six months with the last two months suspended. She backdated the sentence to January 7th last when Mr Coleman first entered Garda custody.
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