The jury in the trial of a 25-year-old man accused of the murder of Shane Geoghegan has been sent home for the weekend. The six men and five women will resume their deliberations on Monday.
Barry Doyle, with addresses in Portland Row in Dublin and Hyde Road in Limerick, denies the murder of Shane Geoghegan, 28, in what the prosecution says was a case of mistaken identity.
Senior Counsel for the prosecution Seán Guerin told the jury that Shane Geoghegan was gunned down, entirely unjustly, a short distance from his home. He said the murder was an ambush - as cowardly a form of murder as you could have.
Mr Geoghegan was shot from behind in a cowardly, ruthless, determined and cold blooded killing, Mr Guerin said, and the accused was was not bullied or beaten into confessing.
Mr Guerin said the detail of Mr Doyle's admissions matched so closely what had actually happened that they had to be true.
Defence for Mr Doyle, Martin O’Rourke, said it was difficult not to be moved to outrage when they heard they circumstances of Shane Geoghegan's death, but they must put that aside and consider the evidence.
He said the case depended wholly and exclusively on the statements made by Barry Doyle, which the prosecution said incriminated him in the murder.
Mr O'Rourke said Mr Geoghegan was an innocent victim and probably not the intended target of the shooting but he said there was no evidence about who the intended target was and why Barry Doyle would have wanted to kill him.
He said there was no forensic evidence, no DNA and no CCTV footage. The gun was never recovered. Mr O'Rourke said the statements the prosecution was relying on were the product of unremitting psychological pressure, threats and promises.
