A 25-year-old man accused of murdering Limerick rugby player Shane Geoghegan told gardaí he shot him and said he was sorry, the Central Criminal Court has been told.
Barry Doyle of Hyde Road in Limerick made the admissions in interviews with gardaí after his arrest in February 2009, the court heard.
He admitted shooting Mr Geoghegan was a mistake, but he repeatedly refused to tell gardaí why he shot him.
Mr Geoghegan died after he was shot five times close to his home at Clonmore, Kilteragh, Dooradoyle, Co Limerick, on 9 November 2008.
Barry Doyle, with addresses at Portland Row in Dublin and Hyde Road in Limerick, has pleaded not guilty to murdering the 28-year-old.
Barry Doyle was interviewed by gardaí on 26 February 2009.
Asked if he was involved in the murder of Mr Geoghegan in November 2008, he replied 'Yeah. I shot him.'
He said he had been in a navy Renault Espace car for an hour or two in the Clonmore, Kilteragh estate, before he saw Mr Geoghegan walking across the estate in the early hours of the morning.
He said he got out of the car and shot at him.
Mr Geoghegan ran and Barry Doyle ran after him - he heard heavy breathing and found Mr Geoghegan leaning against a wall at the back of a house.
He said he shot him again, twice in the head. He said Mr Geoghegan said 'Please stop.'
Mr Doyle said he ran back to the car in which he was a passenger, and drove off.
He said he had fired seven or eight shots. He said he had never met Mr Geoghegan before. He had not taken drugs or alcohol before he shot him. He said he was sorry for what happened.
Asked by gardaí if he was only sorry because he'd shot the wrong person, he replied 'I'm sorry because I did it.'
He said if he could turn the clock back he would not do it again.
And he told gardaí he had stayed in Limerick because he had nowhere else to go.
Asked if he felt better now he had told the truth, he said it did not take back what he had done.
Asked if he had anything else to say, he said 'sorry.'
In a further interview, he was repeatedly asked to explain why Mr Geoghegan had been shot.
He told gardaí he could not help them. He said they could ask him until next week.
He said he had admitted shooting him, he was sorry, and was going to get what he deserved. He said he would probably get life.
He said he was not hiding from anything and was not afraid of anyone and did not need sympathy.
He agreed the shooting of Mr Geoghegan was a mistake.
The trial continues.
