Phelan looked shocked that man hit by bullet, trial told

Barrister Diarmuid Phelan and workers on his farm were shocked and surprised that a man was hit by a bullet from his gun, the Central Criminal Court has been told.

The jury also saw mobile phone footage of part of the incident on Hazelgrove farm in Tallaght, in February 2022, in which men's voices can be heard telling Mr Phelan they are calling the guards, that he was "f***ed now" and had shot a "f***ing dog for nothing".

Mr Phelan, who is 56, has denied the murder of 35-year-old Keith Conlon on 24 February 2022.

He claims he fired his gun in self defence and Mr Conlon, who was unarmed, was shot accidentally. The prosecution says Mr Phelan intended to kill or cause serious injury.

Farm worker, Julien Roudaut gave evidence about what he saw on the day of the shooting.

He said he was in a state of shock and could not recall exactly the sequence of events. He said the shooting happened in a flash.

Mr Roudaut, who is 24, gave evidence via video link from Brussels, with the aid of interpreters.

He told the court that he and Mr Phelan had gone into a wooded area after hearing a dog bark while they were working in another location on the farm.

He saw Mr Phelan take his rifle and shoot at something but did not see what he was shooting at and did not remember if Mr Phelan had said anything before firing.

Afterwards he said he saw a man appear from the direction in which Mr Phelan had shot.

He did not know what the man said but he said the tone of the conversation was quite rough.

Mobile phone video played in court

Defence counsel, Sean Guerin played a short mobile phone video to Mr Roudaut in which men's voices could be heard saying words including: "He’s after shooting the dog here. I’m calling the guards now.

"You’re f***ed now mate… watch, this is not the end of it, I’m telling you, you shot the f***ing dog for nothing."

He agreed that was not the entirety of the shouting match. Mr Roudaut said he felt stressed and under pressure.

He had seen something black in the man's hand and thought it was a gun but after seeing the video, he now thought the man had his phone in his hand.

Mr Roudaut said two men came out of the wooded area after himself and Mr Phelan.

As it happened: Farm worker testifies in Phelan murder trial

He said Mr Phelan called the gardaí and asked the men to keep their distance but they continued to walk towards him.

He said there were gunshots, and he saw the first man fall.

He told prosecuting counsel John Byrne that he heard several shots but did not know the exact number.

And he said the man who was shot turned around "after the first or second shot", but he didn’t "exactly know".

He said he could not say if there was a further shot after the man turned away from Mr Phelan.

Phelan was 'panicked' following farm shooting, court told

Under cross examination, Mr Roudaut agreed he had no recollection of shots being fired after the man started to turn.

Mr Roudaut told the jury Mr Phelan had fired shots towards the sky and that every shot "was meant towards the sky".

He said he didn’t have a lot of memory about the direction of the shots. He said he saw Mr Phelan shoot towards the man "but in the air".

He said when the man fell to the ground he saw blood on the back of his head.

Mr Phelan went to get medicine and came back to assist the man. He described Mr Phelan as looking panicked and that he said "oh sh**".

Asked by Mr Guerin if Mr Phelan looked shocked and surprised that the man had been hit, Mr Roudaut said "yes".

He said they were all in the same state and were all equally surprised that the man had been hit by the shot.

Mr Guerin asked him if it would be fair to say that it looked like Mr Phelan was firing warning shots.

Mr Roudaut replied "yes – it was difficult to believe that the man was shot".

The case will continue tomorrow.