Barrister took pistol from pocket and fired twice in air before shooting man on his farm, court hears

A farm hand told the Central Criminal Court Diarmuid Phelan (56) had looked "pissed off" after encountering two trespassers and was shouting "get out, get out" before he fatally shot one of them.

The worker agreed with the defence that the intruders were "advancing" on Mr Phelan when he took out his revolver.

Mr Phelan, a law professor, is pleading not guilty to murdering Keith Conlon (36) at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght.

The father-of-four from nearby Kiltalown Park was seriously injured in the shooting on February 22, 2022 and died in hospital two days later.

The court has heard Mr Conlon and a friend were fox-hunting, unarmed, on the farm when Mr Phelan killed a dog that was with them and they got into a "heated exchange of words."

Mr Phelan fired two shots from a revolver in the air, but a third hit Mr Conlon in the back of the head. It is the prosecution's case that the accused intended to kill or cause serious injury to Mr Conlon.

The defence will contend that Mr Phelan, who told gardai he felt under threat, was entitled to fire the gun in self-defence, he did not intend to hit Mr Conlon and it happened accidentally.

Today, farm hand Pierre Godreau told prosecutor John Byrne SC he had been cutting grass with a strimmer on Mr Phelan's farm when he noticed other workers looked "concerned". He then heard people fighting and saw Mr Phelan and another farm hand, Julian coming out of a wooded area. Mr Phelan was carrying a rifle and there were two strangers following them.

Mr Godreu said Mr Phelan had the rifle for "protecting himself against animals" and he put it in a car.

The strangers "continued to fight" verbally with Mr Phelan, he said.

"He told them to go," Mr Godreu said, and the exact words were "go, go, get out, get out."

The strangers did not leave, he said.

"(Mr Phelan) got a pistol from his pocket, he shot in the air. Two times," Mr Godreu said.

Mr Byrne asked if there was a further shot.

"Yes, towards one of the strangers," Mr Godreu said. "The three shots were done pretty quickly. One of the strangers fell on the ground. The second one ran away."

Asked about the reaction of the farm hands, he said "we were all shocked and we didn't move at all".

Mr Phelan asked them to call an ambulance and went to the house "to get something to help the person that was injured," the witness continued.

The workers went to get shelter "because we were scared the other person would come back."

The man who had fallen "was asking for help" and Mr Godreu saw he was bleeding from the head.

Mr Phelan returned and was trying to help the stranger, he said. Gardai and an ambulance arrived.

In cross examination, Mr Godreu agreed with defence barrister Michael Bowman that the incident happened around the time of year lambs were born.

He said the farm workers were told to work in pairs and take walkie-talkies to let Mr Phelan know if there was any trouble or intruders.

On the day, Mr Godreu said, he could see on his co-workers' faces that something was making them panic or be afraid.

When the two strangers followed Mr Phelan and Julian out of the woods, Julian was "panicked", he said.

Mr Bowman asked him if Mr Phelan looked frightened.

"No, he was really pissed off," Mr Godreu said.

The two strangers were "really angry too" and were "gaining on them," he said. The strangers were still arguing with Mr Phelan as they followed him.

Mr Bowman put it to him that Mr Phelan was on the phone to the gardai as he walked up the field and "never fights or shouts" at the people.

Mr Godreu said he did not see Mr Phelan on the phone and believed the accused gave his phone to someone else.

Mr Bowman put it to him that on a recording of the call to the gardai, Mr Phelan could be heard telling the "clearly angry" men who were following him: "keep your distance, go back down please go down now."

This was different to Mr Godreu's evidence, he said, and the accused was "not telling them to get off the farm, he's telling them to keep their distance."

The witness agreed that the two intruders did not stop and said Mr Phelan "got out his pistol as soon as the men kept coming."

The shots were in quick succession, with two "in the air," he said.

"The third one hit the man who fell," he said.

At first he thought the man might be "mimicking falling" but realised something was wrong when did not get up and called for help.

Mr Godreu told Mr Bowman he had not known at the time what had happened earlier in the woods or any "threats" that were made to Mr Phelan.

He agreed the accused went over to Mr Conlon when he fell to see if he was hurt, had insisted immediately someone call for an ambulance and went and got a first aid kit.

Mr Bowman asked if Mr Godreu accepted it was "a frightening experience for everybody."

"Yes that's right, it's really darkened my experience of living in Ireland," he replied.

The trial continues on Friday before a jury and Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford.