In a case at the Central Criminal Court, a farm labourer, Frenchman Pierre Godreu, gave his account of an incident on a farm in County Dublin. He told the jury that he witnessed Diarmuid Phelan, a professor of law, shoot a man. Mr. Godreu’s version of events involved Mr. Phelan extracting a handgun from his pocket, firing a duo of shots into the sky, followed by a third bullet towards a man, on 22nd February 2022.
Mr. Godreu explained that this individual and an accomplice, both unfamiliar, had previously emerged from the farm’s woodland. The pair had been tailing Mr. Phelan and another farmhand as they progressed up a field. The atmosphere was tense, with Mr. Phelan very irritated, the second farmhand looking stern, and the unidentified pair visibly furious.
Despite Mr. Phelan’s stern orders for the unknown men to depart, they chose to remain. This led to a shooting by Mr. Phelan, Mr. Godreu further explained to John Byrne SC of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The shot individual bled from his head and called out for assistance. When queried about their reaction, Mr. Godreu confessed to a collective shock that inhibited them from taking immediate action.
Later, Mr. Phelan left to fetch first aid from the farmhouse and requested a female colleague to call for medical aid. On his return, he began attending to the wounded man’s injuries, after which the police and an ambulance arrived.
During his interrogation by Michael Bowman SC, representing Mr. Phelan, Mr. Godreu conceded that he was unaware of any events that took place earlier in the woods. He did confirm that February was lambing season, and Mr. Phelan had shared his apprehension about potential threats to the lambs from wildlife such as foxes or dogs. On the topic of Mr. Phelan placing a call to the Gardaí while they were walking up the field, Mr. Godreu professed ignorance. But the counsel declared that proof of that call will be presented.
The details therein clearly depict Mr. Phelan’s wish for the two individuals to remain distant. Mr Godreu confirmed that it was only when the duo continued to approach that Mr. Phelan produced his revolver. Mr Phelan drew his firearm “as the men persistently advanced”, he clarified.
He concurred that the trio of shots rang out in a swift sequence, the initial two discharges aimed skyward. The third shot wasn’t recognized by him as having hit one man until he collapsed, lay motionless and urgently summoned an ambulance. Upon witnessing his companion being shot, the other man fled the scene, Mr Godreu recounted.
He added that he feared the fleeing man might return, prompting him to seek refuge. Mr Phelan was known to be fiercely protective of his farmland and wished no external discussions about it, including details of its occupancy. The incident, which occurred on Mr Phelan’s farmland on February 22nd, 2022, notably marred his experience of Irish residence, he expressed.
Working as a ‘woofer’, a foreign national who trades labour for food and accommodation, Mr Godreu was one of four such individuals employed on Mr Phelan’s farmland in February 2022.
A French citizen working in Belgium, Mr Godreu provided his testimony from Brussels via videoconferencing on Thursday. His statements were relayed to the Dublin courtroom through an interpreter, while Mr Phelan had been assigned a separate translator and stenographer.
The trial of Mr Phelan, 56, who vehemently denies murdering Keith Conlon at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, Co Dublin, on February 24th, 2022, reached its second day on Thursday. Evidence presented to the court revealed that Mr Conlon had sustained critical injuries from a shooting on the farmland two nights earlier and was declared dead on February 24th.
The court was told that Mr Conlon had been one among a trio of trespassers involved in a fox hunting activity on the farmland on February 22nd, 2022.
The prosecution indicated that Mr Phelan targeted Kallum Coleman’s dog. This instigated heated arguments with the trespassing individuals. Mr Phelan then fired two warning shots in the air from his Smith & Wesson revolver, followed by a third shot that inflicted fatal injuries on Mr Conlon. The prosecution are arguing that Mr Phelan had the premeditated intent to commit murder.
The court was informed that Mr. Phelan expressed fear to the police that if he hadn’t acted promptly, he might have been a victim. He was reported as being panicked, under strain and extremely frightened. The prosecuting authorities have identified the defence’s argument to be that the way Mr. Phelan used his firearm was in rightful self-defence, without the intent to penetrate Mr. Conlon’s body.
Previously, a police officer with photographic duties, Det Garda Maireád Coleman, confirmed that she took pictures of numerous tools such as shovels, hoes, a pickaxe, wire-cutters, a handsaw, and clippers. She noted signs of excavation in an area of the farm where trespassers appeared to have been operative.
The hearing will proceed before Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and a panel of nine males and three females on Friday.