A LAWYER who denies murdering a trespasser on his farm told police he was terrified when three men “exploded” from bushes on his land and began “effectively threatening” him about who had shot his dog.

In interviews with gardaiDiarmuid Phelan told detectives he had shouted at the men to stay back, but they “kept coming” and he believed they were “coming to carry out the threats they had made”.

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

Evidence has been given that Mr. Phelan fired three shots from his Smith & Wesson revolver and the State maintains that two of the shots were fired into the air, while the third struck Mr. Conlon.

Giving evidence today, Detective Sergeant Michael McGrath told John Byrne SC, prosecuting, that when he arrived at the scene Mr Conlon was being treated by paramedics.

The detective said that Mr. Phelan was alone and when he asked him what had happened, Mr. Phelan replied: “I shot him”.

Detective Sergeant McGrath said he immediately warned Mr Phelan and observed blood on his hands.

In the first of four interviews that took place at 7:40 p.m. on February 23, Phelan said gardai that he saw a dog “apparently alone and loose” that he shot.

He said that immediately three men, some in camouflage clothing, had “exploded” from a bush where he said they had hidden.

He said they had roared, but he didn’t know they were there until the men “came out of the bushes.”

He continued: “They were indeed making threats about who shot the dog… something about a claim and about getting me.”

The defendant told detectives that when the three men “started talking about getting me, someone started taking a picture of me.”

He continued: “I yelled at them to stay back, they kept coming. . . “I couldn’t go back, so I moved towards them to get them back.”

Phelan said he was “terrified” at the time and that the man had seen him.

The defendant said he took the revolver he was carrying in his pocket and fired it into the air.

SHOTS

He could not tell gardai whether he had fired two or three shots.

Phelan said: “My memory is the arc over their heads from left to right, what I remember is that I shot from left to right in the air above their heads in this kind of direction.”

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

The trial continues before Judge Siobhan Lankford and a jury of nine men and three women.