A DUBLIN man accused of shooting dead a father of one was hired to kill him, a trial has heard.
Jonathan Douglas (27), O’Devaney Gardens, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to the murder of Aidan Byrne (31) at Drumalee Avenue, Dublin, on February 20th, 2010.
Opening the trial, Gerard Clarke SC, prosecuting, told the jury Mr Douglas was paid to shoot Mr Byrne.
He said the jury would hear evidence that Mr Byrne was a front-seat passenger in a Toyota Corolla car which was driven by another man to a laneway in Drumalee estate near the North Circular Road.
Mr Douglas is alleged to have been waiting for the car and to have walked up to it and fired 10 bullets into the passenger window at about 8.40pm. The bullets hit Mr Byrne in the chest and abdomen.
Mr Clarke said evidence would be heard that paramedics attempted to resuscitate Mr Byrne after he went into cardiac arrest and he was brought to the Mater hospital, but he was pronounced dead at 9.24pm.
Mr Clarke said there would be evidence that Mr Douglas was drinking in Eamonn Rea’s pub on Parkgate Street a short time before the shooting.
“He left the pub suddenly, leaving half a drink behind him, and it is the prosecution’s case he left to go to where Mr Byrne was going to be driven to and he was waiting to shoot him,” Mr Clarke said.
“There will be evidence of things the accused did and said after the event which clearly indicate he was the person who shot Mr Byrne.”
David Connolly, a resident at Drumalee Avenue, was the first witness on the scene after the shooting. He told Mr Clarke that he was watching television with his girlfriend when he heard a series of loud bangs at about 8.40pm.
“I went outside and saw a man in the passenger side of the car who looked like he was choking and leaning over the handbrake,” Mr Connolly said.
He said he dialled 999 and did not see anyone else at the scene. “The passenger window of the car was shattered and I was able to work out a man had been shot.”
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis said Mr Byrne died from multiple gunshot wounds to his body. He said eight of the bullets had exited Mr Byrne’s body, while two had remained within.
“The injuries sustained are consistent with someone being shot a number of times while they were seated and there were attempts made by the deceased to turn away from the gunfire,” Dr Curtis said.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul Carney and a jury of seven men and five women.