A law professor who denies murdering an unarmed trespasser on his farm told gardaí it was “racist and disgraceful” to suggest that he saw himself “as a cut above people that come onto the land with dogs” and had tried to teach them a lesson, a jury has heard.
Barrister Diarmuid Phelan also told detectives in a prepared statement that there had been attempted burglary at his farm, that his sheds had been used as “drug dens”, that there had been masked and armed men near his farmhouse at night and that buildings had been burnt down. He also said that threats were made “within the courtroom” to kill and injure him.
Mr Phelan (56), has pleaded not guilty to murdering father-of-four Keith Conlon (36) at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, Dublin 24 on February 24th, 2022.
The accused man is a barrister, law lecturer and farmer who owns Hazelgrove, formerly a golf course, in Tallaght.
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Evidence has been given at the Central Criminal Court that Mr Phelan fired three shots from his Smith & Wesson revolver, and it is the State’s case that two of the shots were fired into the air, while the third connected with Mr Conlon. In her opening speech, Roisin Lacey SC said the prosecution’s case 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 his initial interview, Mr Phelan told gardaí he was terrified when three men “exploded” out of bushes on his land “screaming and roaring” and began “effectively threatening” him about who had shot their dog. The defendant told detectives that he had shouted at the men to stay back, but they “kept coming”, and he believed they were “coming to fulfil the threats they had made”.
In later interviews, the accused told officers it would be “completely perverse” to suggest he was the aggressor, and “nonsense” to describe his firing of the revolver as “an aimed shot”. Mr Phelan said he believed the trespassers were going “to do whatever they wanted to do”, adding: “Listen, I’m not going to die up there to prove I was under threat.”
In his fourth and final interview, which the jury heard on Tuesday, Mr Phelan was asked by gardaí whether he had ever won a firearms competition. Mr Phelan said he had “certainly” placed in one competition, but it was a long time ago.
The detectives put it to the accused that gardaí had previously advised him to retreat when he found intruders on his land. Mr Phelan said the overall advice was to be careful, retreat and to call gardaí.
Gardaí told the accused he had not retreated on the day of the shooting. Mr Phelan said he had gone all the way back across the ditch, as the men had sensed his fear. He said he had retreated but the men had “come back” to him.
Officers put it to the defendant that he saw himself “as a cut above people that come onto the land with dogs” and had tried to teach them a lesson. Mr Phelan replied: “That is racist, that is just disgraceful, it’s making one class of people better than another.”
The trial continues before Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford and a jury of nine men and three women.
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