skip to main content

Barrister told gardaí he shot man on farm, court hears

Barrister Diarmuid Phelan, who is 56, denies murdering 35-year-old Keith Conlon at Hazelgrove farm, Kiltalown Lane in Tallaght on 22 February 2022
Barrister Diarmuid Phelan, who is 56, denies murdering 35-year-old Keith Conlon at Hazelgrove farm, Kiltalown Lane in Tallaght on 22 February 2022

Barrister Diarmuid Phelan who is accused of the murder of a man on his farm in Tallaght in 2022 told the first gardaí on the scene that he shot the man and pulled a small black revolver out of his jacket pocket, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Mr Phelan also told a garda at the scene that he thought the first three rounds in the gun were "crow shot" for shooting crows and rats.

Mr Phelan, who is 56, denies murdering 35-year-old Keith Conlon at Hazelgrove farm, Kiltalown Lane in Tallaght on 22 February 2022.

He claims he fired his gun in self-defence and that Mr Conlon who was trespassing on his land, was hit accidentally.

The prosecution says he intended to kill or cause serious injury.

Garda Kevin Curran gave evidence of receiving a call from his controller just after 1pm on 22 February 2022 saying there was an incident unfolding at Hazelgrove Farm.

The call mentioned intruders at the farm and that a dog had been shot.

As gardaí responded they were updated that a person had been shot.

When he arrived, Gda Curran said they were met by Diarmuid Phelan who was driving at speed down a laneway.

Keith Conlon died at Hazelgrove Farm, Tallaght in Dublin in February 2022

Mr Phelan, who was carrying a first aid bag, got out of his vehicle and told them a man had been shot, that he needed help and urged the gardaí to follow him.

As they approached the scene, Gda Curran said he noticed three farm workers sitting up on a bank, in a distressed state.

There was a man lying on his back on the ground, wearing a dark hunting jacket.

Gda Curran said the man's eyes were rolling in his head, there was saliva coming from his mouth and he was hyperventilating.

He was also clutching onto the grass with his hands, pulling clumps out of the ground.

Gda Curran said he asked Mr Phelan where the man had been shot and Mr Phelan replied that he did not know.

They turned the man on his side and saw a gunshot wound on the back of his head.

He said he and Mr Phelan took powder from the first aid bag and put it on the back of his head to stop the bleeding.

The garda told the court he asked Mr Phelan who had shot the man and Mr Phelan replied "I did".

When he asked Mr Phelan where the gun was, he said Mr Phelan replied "I have it here" and pulled a small black revolver out of his jacket pocket and threw it to the side.

At that stage, Gda Curran said he told Mr Phelan to step back from Mr Conlon.

Gda Curran agreed with defence counsel, Seán Guerin that Mr Phelan had tossed the weapon on the ground to surrender it to gardaí.

Sergeant Simon Whelan gave evidence that he had taken possession of the revolver and made it safe.

He said he opened the cylinder of the gun and noticed there were eight rounds in it but three of them had strike marks.

He told the jury this meant three bullets had been shot from the gun and there were five remaining.

He said the bullets were hollow nosed which he said could cause more severe damage than pointed bullets.

Sergeant Whelan said he tried to establish how many times Mr Conlon had been shot as three rounds had been discharged but the paramedics could only see one bullet wound.

He said he asked Mr Phelan how many rounds had hit the injured man.

Mr Phelan said the three rounds fired had possibly been "crow shot" - which is used for shooting crows and rats.

Sgt Whelan told him it would be unusual to have two different types of ammunition in a gun. At that point he told the jury, Mr Phelan went silent and did not answer.

The revolver was shown to the jury.

Sgt Whelan said Mr Phelan had indicated he had a rifle in the house that he had used to shoot the dog earlier.

The sergeant went to the farmhouse and found the rifle on a bed in a bedroom.

He said it was loaded and he made it safe.

The rifle, which had camouflage markings on it, was also shown to the jurors.

The trial also heard from a number of other gardaí who had been among the first to arrive at the scene.

Garda Andrew Crowley gave evidence of encountering a number of people at the main gates to the farm after the incident.

He said there had been three or four people at the gate.

One of them, whose name was Kallum Coleman, told Garda Crowley his dog had been shot dead and that he had been with Mr Conlon.

The court heard that Mr Coleman told the garda Mr Phelan had been shouting at them to get back and that Mr Phelan had "let shots off as he turned".

He also said that immediately after the shooting of the dog, Mr Phelan had said "we didn’t see you".

Garda Crowley said the men were on their way in the gate and he told them to go back.

The trial will continue tomorrow.

We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences