Barrister trial told of argument before shooting

The Central Criminal Court has heard that two men who were trespassing on a farm in Dublin "only had eyes" for barrister Diarmuid Phelan and were arguing and shouting with him as they emerged from a wooded area before one of them was shot.

Farm worker Alexandra Fernandes was being cross-examined by lawyers for Mr Phelan, who denies the murder of 35-year-old Keith Conlon at his farm on Kiltalown Lane in Tallaght on 22 February 2022.

Mr Phelan claims he fired his gun in self defence and that Mr Conlon was shot accidentally.

The prosecution says Mr Phelan intended to kill or cause serious injury.

Ms Fernandes, who is 48, has given evidence that she was on a sabbatical and came to work on the farm in early February in exchange for food and accommodation.

Under cross-examination from defence counsel Michael Bowman, she said that on the afternoon of the incident, she was working cutting back a field with other workers when she heard voices arguing.

She agreed she turned off the strimmer she had been using and took out her earplugs to hear what was going on.

She said the voices seemed to be coming from a wooded area and she walked down to see what was going on.

She met Mr Phelan who was with his dog and another French worker, Julian Roudaut, who had all come out of the wooded area.

Mr Phelan was on his mobile phone.

Ms Fernandes said she saw two more men coming out of the woods and agreed they were walking in a "determined" manner.

She agreed with Mr Bowman that they "knew where they wanted to go and who they wanted to get to".

She said "they were only looking at Diarmuid" and only speaking to him.

Ms Fernandes agreed that the men were arguing very loudly and it was directed at Mr Phelan and no one else. She said even when they walked past her, they didn’t look at her.

She agreed with Mr Bowman that she had been looking down the field because she had seen a rainbow.

Asked about the significance of mentioning the rainbow, she said she had told everyone to make a wish and Julien had said "I just want to stay alive for today".

She said she was "astonished" at Julien’s answer and said "me too".

Ms Fernandes told the court Mr Phelan had given her his dog Tal, which was on a lead.

She said she was concerned the men would "do something to Tal".

She agreed she was unable to move and was "frozen to the spot" and said she was afraid of the situation.

She said she was looking closely at the hands of the first of the two men as she was "afraid he was going to get out a knife or something like this".

She said Mr Phelan was shouting "go, go" but the men continued to walk towards him.

She heard a noise like a firecracker, she said, and saw Mr Phelan with a pistol in the air but the men continued to go forward and she heard another shot.

She agreed that she told gardaí that the shots all happened together very quickly and that there was no time between them "like two or three panicked shots".

She agreed she heard the third shot and had seen the first of the two men "start to turn around".

She said she saw blood on the back of his head and he stiffened and fell.

Ms Fernandes agreed she had told gardaí that the second man ran off and Mr Phelan "went carefully" towards the man on the ground and "immediately" called out for an ambulance.

She said Julien told her not to stay where she was as it was dangerous and she went up a hill with the dog where she remained.

The court also heard evidence from a number of paramedics who were called to the scene at the farm.

Advanced paramedic Georgina Flynn said they had been told not to enter the farm if gardaí were not there, but they were able to follow a garda vehicle up a lane.

She said they found the man who had been shot lying on his back.

She said he did have a pulse at the time.

She told the court she cut through his clothes. She said the man was not able to answer questions and did not make any effort to speak.

He was frothing at the mouth and his eyes were rolling she said. They got him on board the ambulance and brought him to Tallaght University Hospital.

Ms Flynn said they had alerted the hospital that they were on their way because the man was critically ill.

The jury also heard statements from two doctors who performed brain stem tests on Keith Conlon on 24 February 2022.

Dr Claire Frith Keyes said she pronounced him dead at 3.15pm that afternoon.

Dr Maria Donnelly said he had suffered a traumatic gunshot wound to the head and had severe irreversible brain injury.