A bachelor farmer who beat up and shot dead a Traveller on his property in Co Mayo felt suicidal afterwards, a court heard today.
Padraig Nally (61), has pleaded not guilty to the murder of John Ward (42), on his 65 acre farm in Funshinaugh, Co Mayo last year.
At the third day of the trial in the Central Criminal Court, Detective Garda Michael Conway said he had spoken with Mr Nally when he arrived at the scene. "He said he wasn't feeling that well, that he was thinking of ending it altogether," he said.
Mr Nally told him in an interview the following day that he had waited for 15 minutes on the road outside his house for the police to arrive, after having alerted them by phoning from a neighbour's house. "I was suicidal at this stage. I did not know if I would shoot myself or not. I was out of my mind with these lads calling all year," he said.
The court has heard that Mr Nally had become obsessed with cars which were calling to his house, taking down their numbers, and had begun to spend several hours in his shed every day with his shotgun.
When he met John Ward coming out of the back of his house, he said he became enraged and shot him from a distance of around four to five yards.
He said that Mr Ward, who was living at the Carrowbrowne halting site on the outskirts of Galway city, rushed at him, saying "you will kill me". The two men became involved in a struggle and after Mr Ward tried to grab hold of the gun, Mr Nally grabbed him by the neck and shoved him up against the side of his house.
He then beat Mr Ward around 20 times with a two foot ash stick, which he had used to mix food for his dog. When Mr Ward ran out of his yard and down the road he went to his shed, reloaded his single barrel shotgun and shot him for a second time, wounding him fatally. "I was out of my mind. I did not know what I was doing," said Mr Nally.
The court heard evidence from six of Mr Nally's neighbours, all of whom described him as a friendly and well respected man.
"He always had a smile and a great salute when you met him on the road," said John Murphy, a local stonemason. He told the court that he had been visited by John Ward at his home around half an hour before the incident at Padraig Nally's house. But he became suspicious and took down the registration number of his car, as well as following him down the road in his own vehicle.
After the conclusion of the prosecution case, Mr Nally then took the stand and outlined his background.
Mr Nally, a softly-spoken man, had to be asked to speak up by his defence lawyer, senior counsel Brendan Grehan. He said he was burgled in 2001 and then again in 2004, when intruders smashed down his back door, rifled through his drawers and stole his chainsaw.
"I enjoyed it until that but it got rough on me then. People were calling and taking things on me, out of the yard." He said the disappearance of farmyard items like heavy chains, a water barrel and vice-grips made him feel nervous.
"I was afraid someone would come in again and break me up, bust me up."
Mr Nally is due to resume giving evidence tomorrow.