Fatal shooting of trespasser on farm ‘a tragedy’ not due to any crime of law professor Diarmuid Phelan, jury told

The fatal shooting of a trespasser on the farm of law professor Diarmuid Phelan is “a tragedy and a grievous waste of human life” but it did not happen as a result of a crime of Mr Phelan’s, a murder trial jury has been told.
Three shots fired by Mr Phelan from his Smith & Wesson revolver were only ever intended to be warning shots so there was no intent for murder, Seán Guerin SC said. There may also be issues of self-defence to consider if the jury accepted aspects of the prosecution case, he outlined.
Counsel was opening his closing address on behalf of Mr Phelan who has denied the murder of Keith Conlon, who died two days after he was shot on the farm on February 22nd 2022.
The case is “all about emotions”, particularly the emotions of fear and anger, Mr Guerin said.
The prosecution say Mr Phelan was angry when he shot Mr Conlon, “our case is he was in fear”, counsel said.
Those emotional states, like all other facts, had to be proven, he said.
The defence is asking the jury, akin to James Joyce’s novel Ulysses which told the story of Dublin by following a man around the city over an entire day, to walk in the shoes of Mr Phelan and to look inside his mind, Mr Guerin said.
Mr Guerin began his closing address just after 12.30pm on Tuesday in the trial of Mr Phelan (56), who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Conlon (36) at Hazlegrove farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, on February 24th 2022. Mr Conlon, a father of four, was pronounced brain-dead at Tallaght Hospital on February 24th, two days after he was critically injured during an incident at the farm on February 22nd 2022.
The eight week trial at the Central Criminal Court heard Mr Conlon and two other men, Kallum Coleman and Robin Duggan, were using a dog to hunt down badgers and/or foxes, when trespassing on the farm that day.
After Mr Phelan, who the jury was told was concerned about lambing ewes, shot a lurcher dog belonging to Mr Coleman, there were heated exchanges with the trespassers and two of them followed him up a field.
The prosecution case is two shots were fired into the air by Mr Phelan from his Smith & Wesson revolver and a third penetrated the body of Mr Conlon.
The prosecution case is, when the third shot was fired, the deceased was shot in the back of the head as he turned away and, in the circumstances, Mr Phelan had the requisite intent for murder.
Mr Phelan, the trial heard, told gardaí in interviews he believed, if he had not reacted immediately, “he would have got me”, he was “terrified”, “stressed” and “scared shitless”.
Earlier on Tuesday, Róisín Lacey SC, concluding the prosecution’s closing address, said Mr Phelan’s introduction of a firearm during a “purely verbal” argument with Mr Conlon and Mr Coleman was “disproportionate and excessive”.
The prosecution say he is guilty of murder, she said.
When Mr Conlon was shot by Mr Phelan, he was unarmed and was engaged in a verbal argument which did not call for the introduction of weapons, she said.
Mr Phelan had “no idea” what projectiles were going to come out of his Smith & Wesson revolver when he fired it three times, she said.
Mr Phelan had told gardaí he fired the revolver over the heads of Mr Conlon and Mr Coleman but the prosecution say he directed the revolver towards, or in the direction of, them and the third shot hit Mr Conlon in the back of the head, she said.
How did this match Mr Phelan’s own view that he had reached a level of “responsible competence” when dealing with firearms, counsel asked.
A hollow pointed bullet was later removed from the back of Mr Conlon’s head and the entry wound was 6cm below the top of his head, she said.
The jury had heard evidence that mixing bird shot and hollow-pointed bullets in the revolver, as Mr Phelan said was his general practice, is “very dangerous”, counsel said.
Mr Phelan had told gardaí his general practice was to load the eight-chamber revolver with five hollow-pointed bullets and three bird shot and he had believed, when firing the weapon, bird shot was being discharged, she said.
Mr Phelan had also said he could not remember when the revolver was last reloaded, he believed it might have been four weeks earlier, or what it was reloaded with.
The prosecution case was that the evidence was consistent with the revolver having been loaded with eight hollow-pointed bullets, counsel said.
Mr Guerin will continue the defence closing speech this afternoon before Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and the jury of nine men and three women.