Jurors watch CCTV and footage from day of fatal shooting – The Irish Times

Jurors in the trial of law professor Diarmuid Phelan, who is accused of killing an unarmed trespasser in a fatal shooting at his Tallaght farm more than two years ago, have been viewing CCTV and mobile phone footage taken that day.

Garda Dara Kelly, of Tallaght Garda Station, told Roisin Lacey SC, prosecuting, that he had reviewed dashcam footage downloaded from an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) that was seized at Hazelgrove Farm in Tallaght.

The witness said jurors will see seven segments of the 12-minute video, six of which were recorded by the ATV’s dash cam.

Another segment was a video downloaded from the cellphone of the deceased Keith Conlon, which 12 jurors saw for the first time on Thursday. The video, recorded by Mr Conlon, was taken minutes before he was shot dead, and in it male voices can be heard saying: “Now you’re screwed” and “It’s not the end mate I’m telling you, you shot the h* ban the dog in vain.”

Mr Phelan (56) pleaded not guilty to murdering Keith Conlon (36) at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, Dublin 24 on 24 February 2022.

Mr Conlon, of Kiltalown Park in Tallaght, was seriously injured in the shooting on February 22 and died in Tallaght University Hospital two days later.

Mr Phelan is a barrister, law lecturer and farmer who owns Hazelgrove Farm, a former golf course in Tallaght.

Referring to mobile phone footage, a garda witness said it was recorded on Mr Conlon’s phone at 1.04pm that day. Garda Kelly said that when the video begins, it looks down the embankment and the steep hill. He then looks down at a man in a jacket, snood and dark trousers, who jurors have been told is Mr Phelan.

The guard said that the camera then “flips” to the shot dog and the man who is caring for the animal. He told jurors they could see the white leash “going away from the dog towards the tree”.

The witness said Mr Phelan had a rifle over his shoulder. He said the video showed a “verbal exchange” taking place between Mr Conlon and the accused. He continued that one of the farm workers can be seen in the bushes on the right of the frame.

In her opening statement, Ms Lacy said there was a “very heated exchange” between Mr Phelan and the offenders after the accused shot one of the offenders’ dogs.

In the latest Garda video, Kelly said the dashcam was activated in the quad at 1.10pm when the buggy was launched. A witness said Mr Phelan could be heard saying he was going to get first aid as he got into the quad.

In the shots, the owners are on the hill or making their way along the embankment. One of the farm’s agricultural workers, Hannah Felgner, can also be seen on the phone.

Mr Lacey said jurors had already heard the 999 call made at 1.09pm and the video was taken a short time after the phone call.

At 1.09pm Ms Felgner made a 999 call which lasted nine minutes and 18 seconds. During the call, Ms Felgner asked for an ambulance, said she was at a farm and gave an address in Tallaght, near Dublin. Ms. Felgner tells the dispatcher, “Excuse me, somebody shot a man, a farmer on a farm.”

Security said Mr Phelan could be seen at 1.12pm talking to two workers telling them to open the front gate to the farm.

Police said the defendant backed the ATV up the driveway so he could make a three-point turn to get to the farmhouse.

The witness said the accused retrieved a rifle from the back of the ATV at 1:13 p.m. He is then seen holding a rifle in his left hand and holding it by the barrel, the Guard said.

In the same video, the police reported that the accused went down from the side of the house to the entrance.

Mr Phelan returns from the farmhouse and runs along the same route before leaving in another vehicle at 1.15pm. “He has the keys in his right hand, but no rifle in his right hand,” he added.

In her opening statement, Ms Lacey said jurors would hear evidence that three men, including Mr Conlon, trespassed on Mr Phelan’s wooded land while hunting foxes or badgers that day.

Ms Lacy said Mr Phelan told gardai he was concerned about a dog running on his land towards his sheep and fired his Winchester rifle at it, after which he said the three men immediately “exploded” from the wooded area and began to threaten him.

The State also told 12 jurors that Mr Phelan said he was shaking with fear and “scrambling” towards the bank to escape, but when the dead man, Kate Conlon, and the second man kept coming, he believed they were “going to carry out the demands of the threat which they did.” As they got closer, Mr Phelan said he pulled his Smith & Wesson revolver from his pocket and fired into the air above their heads, but was “stunned when one man went down”, the court heard.

In her opening statement, Ms Lacey said she expected the defense to argue that the accused had the right to use the firearm in a lawful act of self-defence. They will say that it was not done with the intention of forcing the bullet through Mr. Conlon’s body and that the penetration was an accidental, unintended result, she said.

The state’s case, Ms. Lacy stressed, is that when the third shot was fired, the gun was pointed at the victim, who was shot in the back of the head as he turned to leave. “Under such circumstances, we say that the accused intended to kill or cause serious bodily harm,” the lawyer said.

The trial will continue on Tuesday before Judge Siobhan Lankford and a jury of nine men and three women.