'Panicked' Diarmuid Phelan said 'Oh s**t' when tending to injured man after shooting, murder trial hears

An unarmed trespasser had turned his back after murder accused law professor Diarmuid Phelan fired the first or second shot from his revolver "towards the man but in the air", an eyewitness has told the trial jury.

French agricultural worker Julien Roudaut, the fourth and final farmhand to give evidence, also testified on Thursday that the leading barrister was "panicked" after the shooting and had said "oh s**t" when he went to assist the injured man on the ground.

Mr Phelan, 56, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Keith Conlon, 36, at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, Dublin 24 on February 24, 2022. Mr Phelan is a barrister, law lecturer and farmer who owns Hazelgrove Farm, formerly a golf course in Tallaght.

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Giving evidence on Thursday, French national Julien Roudaut, 24, told John Byrne SC, prosecuting, that he came to Ireland in 2021 to learn English and travel. Mr Roudaut said he was sleeping in his car for a week when he initially came to Ireland but needed to find shelter, so he made contact with Mr Phelan through the website woof.ie.

The witness said he was going to be lodged and fed by Mr Phelan in exchange for working on the accused's farm. He said he arrived at Hazelgrove Farm in December 2021. Mr Roudaut told the trial that on February 22, 2022, he was working with the accused and three other farmhands: Pierre Godreu, Alexandra Fernandes and Hannah Felgner.

The witness said he was cutting bushes around midday on February 22 when he heard a dog barking. He said the barking was coming from a wooded area. Mr Roudaut, Mr Phelan and the accused's sheepdog Tal went down the field to investigate where the barking was coming from. He said the accused had a rifle with him.

They went into the wooded area, where there was a stream and crossed the river. Asked whether he had located the source of where the barking was coming from, Mr Roudaut said he hadn't seen the dog as he was behind the accused with Tal. He said Mr Phelan had fired one shot from his rifle, but the witness said he didn't see what the accused was shooting at. He agreed with Mr Byrne that the accused was shooting at something up along a steep bank.

Mr Roudaut said he then saw a man appear from the direction in which the accused had shot. The witness said there was an argument between the accused and the man but he could not recall what the man was saying. He said the man was shouting towards him, Mr Phelan and Tal. Asked to describe the tone of the conversation, Mr Roudaut said it was "quite rough".

The witness thought the man had something black in his hand but said that he hadn't done anything with it. Mr Roudaut said he felt stressed and under pressure at the time. Asked why he felt like this, the witness said it was because of "the shot" and the arguing.

Mr Roudaut, Tal and Mr Phelan came out of the woods together. The accused went towards a digger and Mr Roudaut went to the other farmhands, Alexandra, Pierre and Hannah. The witness said he saw two men come out of the woods and in their direction. He said the two men were walking towards Mr Phelan.

He said the argument between the accused and one of the two men was still going on but he did not understand what was being said. Mr Roudaut recalled Mr Phelan asking the men to keep their distance, but said the two men kept on walking towards the accused. He said there were gunshots and he saw the first man fall.

Asked to describe in detail the sequence of the gunshots and the movements of the first man, Mr Roudaut said it was really quick and confusing in his head. The witness said he did not remember the gesture the accused had made but after the first gunshot, the man had turned. Mr Roudaut then said the man had turned after the first or second gunshot.

Asked who the man had turned towards, the witness said he had turned his back to Mr Phelan. Asked by Mr Byrne whether there was a further gunshot after the man had turned his back to the accused, the witness replied: "I couldn't say." The witness said the accused had a "little black gun" in his hand.

"What can you tell us about the direction in which the shots were fired," asked Mr Byrne. "Towards the sky," replied the witness. Mr Roudant said he could not say exactly how many of the shots were fired towards the sky. "Were all the shots fired towards the sky?" asked counsel. "From what I saw I thought but yes every shot was made towards the sky, [sic]" replied Mr Roudaut.

Asked whether he was sure about this, the witness said the shots were fired "towards the sky". He added: "It's really confusing, I don't have a lot of memory of the direction of the shots". Mr Byrne asked the witness how many shots he thought he had heard. "I don't know, I don't remember the number of the shots," he said.

"How is it that you say Mr Phelan was shooting in the sky, what did you see him do?" asked Mr Byrne. "I saw him shooting towards the man but in the air," replied the witness. He repeated that he remembered the man turning his back to Mr Phelan after the first or second shot.

He said the man who fell had blood on the back of his head and that Mr Phelan had gone towards him. He said the accused then went to his house in a buggy to get medicine. He said Mr Phelan had put white powder on the man's head. Mr Roudaut said the second man had run away. He told the jury that the accused was "panicked" when he went to assist the man on the ground and that Mr Phelan had said "oh s**t".

The trial continues on Thursday afternoon before Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford and a jury of nine men and three women.

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