Jury in trial of barrister sent away until tomorrow

The jury in the trial of a law professor who is accused of murdering a trespasser on his farm has been sent away until tomorrow, having been told by the judge that there is no work for them today.

Diarmuid Phelan, who is 56, has pleaded not guilty to murdering 35-year-old Keith Conlon at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, on 24 February 2022.

Mr Phelan is a barrister, law lecturer, and farmer who owns Hazelgrove, formerly a golf course in Tallaght.

Addressing the 12 jurors this morning, Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford said for reasons outside of her control, there was no work for them today as a jury so she would send them away until Friday morning.

"Unfortunately, we weren't able to give you that indication yesterday, but that's outside my control," continued the judge.

Ms Justice Lankford told the jury of nine men and three women that she was informed by counsel that they were somewhat ahead of schedule, so she would hope that the trial would still be finished within the estimated time schedule.

The jury was told at the outset of the case that the trial was expected to last six weeks.

Ms Justice Lankford told the jury today that they had "a day of rest as it were".

The judge asked the jury to remember that the trial is "a work in progress", and that they should not be discussing the case with other people and asked them to keep their "own counsel".

Ms Justice Lankford apologised to the jurors for having brought them into the Central Criminal Court unnecessarily.

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

Ms Lacey said that Mr Phelan told gardaí he became concerned about a dog running loose on his land towards his sheep and shot it with his Winchester rifle, whereupon he said three men immediately "exploded" from the wooded area and began threatening him.

The 12 jurors were also told by the State 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.

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

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 morning before Ms Justice Lankford and the jurors.