A mourner who was shot dead at the funeral of his relative in Co Sligo was shot in the back, a murder trial jury was told yesterday.
Mr Patrick "Deuce" Ward was shot in the back from more than three to four feet, a State forensic scientist, Dr Sheila Willis, told the Central Criminal Court trial of Mr Martin McDonagh, who is accused of being part of a "joint enterprise" with other men to murder Mr Ward. Mr McDonagh (29), of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, England, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Patrick "Deuce" Ward (38), of Moss Side, Manchester. He has also denied the attempted murder of Mr Patrick "Jaws" Ward snr and Mr "Jaws Paddy" Ward jnr, at the funeral in Carrownanty, Ballymote, Co Sligo, on May 10th 1999.
The jury has heard that Martin McDonagh shot himself in the groin area during an attack in which several shots were fired outside the graveyard. Mr Patrick "Deuce" Ward was shot with a weapon other than the one Mr McDonagh was seen dumping in a ditch, a ballistics expert has told the trial.
Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, prosecuting, has told the jury that the fact that the murder weapon was a different gun was "irrelevant". If the accused was one of those with a gun and they were all acting in a joint enterprise, "they are all equally guilty".
In a statement to gardaí, McDonagh admitted holding one of the pistols used in the incident, but he has denied deliberately shooting. He told gardaí the gun was passed to him in the middle of the incident and it went off twice accidentally, the second time injuring him in the upper leg.