THE widow of a Co Tipperary farmer told the Central Criminal Court yesterday that her husband was shot after a gang of armed and masked men broke into their home.
Mrs Brigid Fanning said she and her daughter Rosaleen (Rose) were tied up by the gang and while lying trussed up on a bed heard a shot. They heard 71-year-old Mr Fanning groaning: "Oh Jesus I will never be gathered up.".
Mrs Fanning said one of the men who tied her up told her as he did so: "This is for the cause" and had added: "It's all the government's fault."
Mrs Fanning and her daughter gave evidence yesterday on the opening day of the trial of Mr Ivor Sweetman (46), from Bawnlea Green, Jobstown, Tallaght, Dublin, and Mr Francis Palmer (26) from Foxborough Road, Lucan, Co Dublin, who have denied the murder of Mr Danny Fanning at his home at Stephenstown, Rosegreen, Cashel, Co Tipperary on February 6th last year.
Both men have also denied having a shotgun with intent to commit robbery at the farm, and having the gun with intent to endanger life, cause serious injury or enable another person to do so.
Opening the trial Mr Kenneth Mills SC, prosecuting, said Mr Fanning died from shock and haemorrhage after an artery in his leg was severed following a single shotgun blast.
Mr Mills said Mr Fanning and his wife were in the kitchen of their farmhouse on the evening of February 6th last year. Earlier, Mr Fanning had been to the local factory to see his son's cattle being slaughtered and had collected a cheque for £14,000.
Counsel said that the Fannings' youngest daughter Rosaleen was outside the farmhouse.
While she was outside two men wearing balaclavas and brandishing sawn-off shotguns came into the kitchen and ordered Mr and Mrs Fanning to lie on the floor, he said. As Rosaleen returned to the house, she Was approached by a man wearing a balaclava and carrying a baseball bat who manhandIed her into the farmhouse Mr Mills said.
Inside, the men asked Mr Fanning: "Where's the money? Where's the safe?", he said. Mr Fanning had replied: "There's no money here. You came on a bad day.
Mr Mills said Mrs Fanning and Rosaleen were taken into a bedroom and tied hand and foot together and laid on a bed.
One of the men tying them up said they would hear a shot but they would not be hurt. The next thing they heard was a shot from the kitchen and moaning. They heard Rosaleen's car being driven away.
About 15 minutes later, the two women managed to free themselves and went into the kitchen where they saw Mr Fanning sitting in a chair. His arms and legs were tied and he had passed out. There was a lot of blood on the floor.
The telephone wires were cut and by the time the doctor arrived Mr Fanning had died, Mr Mills said.
Mrs Brigid Fanning (61) said she married Danny Fanning in 1957 and they had five boys and three girls aged from 26 to 39. They farmed 340 acres.
She and her husband were in their kitchen on the night of February 6th last year when the door opened and she saw two men. Both wore balaclavas and had sawn-off shotguns.
Mrs Fanning said she and her husband were told to get on the floor. Their daughter Rose, who had been outside, was thrown in on her hands and knees by a third man.
The men asked if there were guns in the house and forced Rose to fetch a shotgun from under the stairs. The raiders said Mr Fanning had sold cattle that day and then asked Where the money was.
Mrs Fanning said her husband said there was a cheque on the table and told them: "You came on a bad day, lads, there isn't any money.
One raider took her and Rose into a nearby bedroom and tied them with stockings and then tied them together on the bed.
Mrs Fanning said she had a varicose ulcer on her leg and asked the man not to hurt her and he said he would not and had tied her leg further up.
"I asked had he a mother and he said he had. He said he could see from my hands that I worked" hard. He said his mother had worked hard and got f... all. He apologised for his bad language and said there was 11 in his family and they had nothing when they came out here.".
She said: "He said `This is for the cause' and told us that it was all the government's fault. I told him we were not the government.".
After the men left the room, the women heard a shot and Mr Fanning groaning: "Oh Jesus, I will never be gathered up." Then they heard the kitchen door closing and, Rosaleen's car being driven away.
Mrs Fanning said her husband called out to Rose several times and the women shouted back that they were trying to get loose. He said he could not wait, Mrs Fanning said.
Then he had called: "I am going." Minutes later Mrs Fanning, said they managed to free themselves and she went into the kitchen where Mr Fanning was tied to a chair, apparently dead.
Ms Rosaleen Fanning said that when she was driving home earlier that evening she noticed a dark green or blue Volkswagen Polo, registration 95 D and with a three in the number, parked outside the local priest's house.
She said she was in the garage at home later that evening when she was grabbed by a man armed with a baseball bat. She was pulled into the house and put on the kitchen floor where she lay next to her mother, holding hands.
She said one of the men said to them his parents had worked hard and got nothing while the farmers, had everything.