Murder trial jury shown 'upsetting' animal attack videos

A jury has viewed "upsetting and difficult" animal attack videos taken from the phone of a trespasser who was shot dead on a law professor's farm, which they also heard include footage of dogs being "trained" to attack a live kitten.

In the video clips, a lurcher dog - which was shot by leading barrister Diarmuid Phelan moments before he said three intruders "exploded" out of the bushes on his farm - is seen fighting over a live squirrel, mauling a badger and shaking a dead fox between its teeth.

A detective agreed with defence counsel that "the activity" in the videos was conducted "with considerable good humour, laughter and there is enjoyment to be had" by those present.

In her opening address, Roisin Lacey SC said the jury will hear evidence that on the day in question, three men including the deceased, Keith Conlon, and Kallum Coleman had trespassed on a wooded area of Mr Phelan's land while hunting foxes or badgers.

Mr Phelan, 56, has pleaded not guilty to murdering father-of-four Keith 'Bono' Conlon, 36, at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, Dublin 24 on 24 February 2022.

The accused man is a barrister, law lecturer and farmer who owns Hazelgrove, formerly a golf course in Tallaght.

Mr Conlon, from Kiltalown Park in Tallaght, was seriously injured in the shooting incident on 22 February and died from a single gunshot wound to the head at Tallaght University Hospital two days later.

Ms Lacey, prosecuting, told the jury today it was proposed for some videos to be played to them and that Detective Garda Mark Short would give evidence about the videoclips.

Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford then warned the jurors that the material about to be played was "somewhat upsetting and difficult" to view and to let her know if they needed a break. She said the length of the videos were no more than eight or nine minutes in total and repeated that it is "somewhat upsetting material".

The jury were then shown eight videos which came from the deceased's phone.

In the first video played to the jury, the detective said Mr Conlon had sent it to 'Big J' on 31 October, 2021 and it lasted one minute and 24 seconds. He said the video depicted two men with a dog digging with a shovel and spade. He said a black dog was being dragged out of the hole. He said it was not possible to identify the two males.

Under cross-examination, Sean Guerin SC, defending, put it to Det Gda Short that one of the voices had said "there is a fox there do you see that Bono". The detective said it was possible and agreed Mr Conlon had made the video on his phone.

Mr Guerin said there was a reference in the video to a dog and fox "being jaw on jaw", meaning that the terrier and whatever animal was in the hole had been seized by the jaw. The detective agreed there was a radio transmitter on the dog's collar.

Describing the method of hunting, the lawyer said that although a terrier is used to seize and hold the quarry/prey, a lurcher type dog and not a terrier is used to kill the animal.

The detective said 'a person called Kal' had posted the second video to a Whatsapp group containing 15 other people on 3 October 2022. The second video shown to the jury depicted a dog and a dead fox and was 13 seconds long. He agreed the dog in the video was called Vin.

Under cross-examination, the detective agreed that Vin had the fox in his teeth and was seen shaking the animal.

The fourth video shown to the jury had appeared in two Whatsapp chats on Mr Conlon's phone. The detective said 'Bono' had sent it to 'Kal' on 9 February 2022 and to another person called 'R' the next day. It showed trespasser Kallum Coleman holding up a dead fox in his right hand and a dog on a lead in his left hand. There were three other dogs present. Ms Lacey said the dog being held up is Vin.

The witness agreed with the defence that there had been an exchange of videos between Mr Conlon and Mr Coleman, where Mr Coleman asked his friend to "send us the videos of the fox bro will ya".

Referring to the fourth video, Mr Guerin said there had been a Whatsapp conversation between the men about "blurring something out".

Mr Guerin put it to the detective that this was consistent with the possibility that "illegal activity" was taking place and the faces would be blurred out before the video was made available to anyone. "That's a possibility," replied the witness.

Counsel said Mr Coleman's dog Vin was on a lead in his owner's left hand.

"Ms Lacey said Vin is being held up by the collar, Vin is clearly straining to get at the fox and being held back by the collar?" asked the defence barrister. The witness said he didn't think Vin was "chomping" to get at the fox.

The detective told the prosecution that the next video, which was 24 seconds, was recorded on Mr Conlon's phone. He said it showed a man holding two dogs on a lead, then three other dogs appear and a dead squirrel is on the ground. "Not only can we see the black and white dog called Vin but we can hear the reference to Vin," added Ms Lacey.

Under cross-examination, the detective agreed with Mr Guerin that the man in the video is Mr Coleman.

The sixth video played to the jurors was also taken on Mr Conlon's phone. It was 21 seconds long and depicted a male with four dogs, two of whom are attacking a squirrel which is squealing, said the detective.

Under cross-examination, the detective agreed with Mr Guerin that the other dogs were on a lead and that Vin was the white dog with black patches.

"I suggest that Vin and the other dog are in a sense fighting over the squirrel and both have their teeth sunk into the squirrel and trying to pull away from the other dog," said Mr Guerin, which the witness agreed with.

Mr Guerin said it was clear that Vin was the dog that won the tussle.

The next video lasting 33 seconds had been deleted from Mr Conlon's phone and was recorded on 29 January 2022. It showed two dogs attacking a badger. Ms Lacey said several individuals are on the video and one of them is Kallum Coleman.

Mr Guerin, defending, said the dog restrained on the lead was a terrier dog. The detective said he didn't know whether it was the dog found by gardai in the wooded area on the accused's farm on 22 February, when gardaí went there after the fatal shooting of Mr Conlon.

The detective agreed the white dog with the black patches in the field which was mauling the badger is Mr Coleman's dog Vin.

"It is perfectly clear that Vin is aggressively mauling the badger, sinking his teeth in?" asked Mr Guerin. "He is certainly hacking the badger," said the witness, adding that the dog had his teeth around the badger's neck and was shaking it.

Counsel suggested the dog was shaking the animal violently. The witness said the dog shook the animal two or three times.

In summary, the witness agreed with Mr Guerin that in all the videos the activity is being conducted with considerable good humour, laughter and there is enjoyment to be had.

The last video shown to the jury was sent from 'Bono' to 'Big J' on 4 November 2021 and showed two dogs attacking a badger at night time and there is a flashlight shining.

The detective said it was not possible to identify any person speaking in the video.

Mr Guerin said Vin is one of the two dogs. He said the other type of dog was a lurcher and not a terrier. The detective agreed that the badger had already been "mauled" by the animal and was bloodied.

Mr Guerin said the two lurcher type dogs were loose and not restrained or on a lead. He said one male voice on the video said "that's the biggest pig I've ever seen in my life yeah". Counsel said "pig" is slang for a badger.

"This shows what happens after an animal is dragged from the hole: the lurcher dog or the "killer dog" is let loose to maul the animal to kill it," said Mr Guerin, which the witness agreed with.

Mr Guerin said the videos showed various stages of the hunting process and what happens. But, he said, the ability to hunt successfully depends on the terrier being willing to seize and hold the quarry; the badger or fox. "And equally the willingness of the lurcher to chase, catch and kill," he added.

The detective agreed that animals have to be trained to do these things and a video recorded on Mr Conlon's phone - from November 2021- showed how this was done.

Describing the recording which was not shown to the jury, Mr Guerin said a cage was placed in the cargo hold of the back of a van and the video is viewed through the rear open door of the vehicle.

He said when the video begins the cage contains a kitten and a small dog, which is a pup. A number of male voices can be heard encouraging the pup to attack the kitten and the pup makes a number of efforts to do this.

"But it is repelled by the kitten and the pup appears to lose interest," said counsel.

Mr Guerin said when the pup is released from the cage by one of the men, another older and bigger dog, which is a bull terrier, is introduced to the cage. The second dog enters the cage and is again encouraged to attack the kitten by numerous male voices.

"The older and bigger dog attacks the kitten and as it is doing so it is encouraged by male voices to continue the attack. As that is happening the pup is reintroduced to the cage and the pup is encouraged to participate in the attack by the bigger dog and it does that," he continued.

Mr Guerin said the larger dog seized the kitten with his jaws and mauls it. The gardaí said the dog seized the kitten with his teeth.

Counsel said the pup appears to be encouraged enough in the attack to join the older dog.

The 12 jurors were also told by the State in their opening address that Mr Phelan said he was shaking with fear and "scrambled" up a bank to get away but when the deceased man Keith Conlon and a second man kept coming he believed they were "coming to fulfil the threats they had made".

As they got closer, Mr Phelan said he reached for his Smith & Wesson revolver in his pocket and fired in the air over their heads but was "stunned when one man went down", the court has heard.

In her opening speech, Ms Lacey said she expects the defence case to be that the accused was entitled to discharge the firearm in a legitimate act of self defence. They will say that it was not done with the intention of causing the bullet to penetrate Mr Conlon's body and that the penetration was an accidental, unintended result, she stated.

The State's case, Ms Lacey highlighted, is that when the third shot was fired, the gun was pointed in the direction of the deceased who was shot in the back of the head when he had turned away to leave. "In those circumstances we say the accused intended to kill or cause serious injury," counsel said.

The trial continues tomorrow before Ms Justice Lankford and a jury of nine men and three women.