Two young men who were due to sit Junior and Leaving Cert exams yesterday were instead jailed for three years for their part in a shooting in a Limerick housing estate last year.
Limerick Circuit Court heard that another co-accused was just 14 years of age when he took part in the "feud related" attack.
Appearing before Judge Carroll Moran were Paul Dillon (22), Shanabooly Road, Ballynanty, Colin Hughes (21), River Road, Rhebogue and Kieran Kelly (19), College Avenue, Moyross, all in Limerick. The now 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also appeared before the court.
All four pleaded guilty to two charges arising out of an incident in which an 18-year-old local man was shot in the leg with a handgun. They admitted causing harm to Aidan Cahill in Moyross, on March 5th, 2006. The four also pleaded guilty to possession of a handgun with intent to endanger life on the same date. The three older defendants were each jailed for three years, while sentencing of the 15-year-old was adjourned until July 27th.
Det Garda Thelma Watters told the court that the attack on Mr Cahill took place at 10am. A number of witnesses saw the four accused, who were not wearing masks, at the scene attempting to fix the firearm which had initially jammed.
She said the shooting was feud-related and was part of an ongoing dispute between two families in Moyross.
The court heard that Mr Cahill suffered a fracture to his right fibula and that he had to wear a protective cast for eight weeks.
Defence counsel Brendan Nix SC, told the court that his client, Paul Dillon, had stupidly got "drunk and stoned" at a 21st party the night before the shooting.
He said Mr Dillon had been trying to educate himself while in prison and was due to sit the Junior Cert English paper yesterday. The court heard that Colin Hughes had also tried to educated himself in custody and had been due to sit his Leaving Cert exam yesterday.