A man killed in a Dublin pub last year was wearing a bullet-proof vest and carrying a pistol when he was shot in the head, a murder trial at the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.
Declan Griffin (32), Coolock, died from wounds he sustained in the Horse and Jockey pub, Inchicore, in April 2003. Mr Shay Wildes (36), Corbally Park, Tallaght, denies his murder.
On the fourth day of the trial, Det Garda Shane Henry said the gun found on Mr Griffin contained four .22 calibre bullets. He told Mr John Peart SC, defending, that Mr Griffin's body armour was "serious" and capable of protecting the wearer from powerful ammunition.
Mr Alan Moore, a friend of Mr Wildes, told the court they had met briefly in a pub the day after the killing. Mr Moore said Mr Wildes was "locked" and speaking "double-Dutch". When Mr Moore asked him if he had heard about the killing in Inchicore, he replied that he had. Mr Wildes had also phoned Mr Moore to see if he had left a gun in a plastic bag in his car. Mr Moore searched the car but did not find anything.
Ms Sandra Maguire, the manager of the Horse and Jockey pub on the day of Mr Griffin's killing, said she had gone downstairs to get change for her colleague. "I heard a bang. I thought one of the kids was after throwing a banger into the pub or something." It was only when the children in the pub started screaming that she realised there was something wrong.
Ms Jackie Kenny, who was in the far end of the pub, described "hysterical" children running towards her at the back of the premises, away from the fatally wounded man at the front.