A man killed in a Dublin pub last year was wearing a bullet-proof vest and carrying a pistol when he got shot in the head, a murder trial at the Central Criminal Court heard today.
Mr Declan Griffin (32) from Coolock died from the wounds he sustained in the Horse and Jockey pub, Inchicore on April 5th 2003.
Mr Shay Wildes (36) from Corbally Park, Tallaght, denies his murder.
On the fourth day of the trial today, Detective Garda Shane Henry from the ballistics section of the Garda Technical Bureau said the gun found on Mr Griffin contained four .22 inch calibre bullets.
He also confirmed to defence counsel Mr John Peart SC, 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 that they met briefly in a pub the day after the killing. Mr Moore said that Mr Wildes was "locked" and so drunk that he was speaking "double-Dutch."
When Mr Moore asked the accused if he had heard about the killing in Inchicore, Mr Wildes 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 vehicle, but did not find anything, the court heard.
Mrs Sandra Maguire, the manager of the Horse and Jockey pub on the day of Mr Griffin's killing, said the shooting happened minutes before she ended her shift.
"I heard a bang. I thought one of the kids was after throwing a banger into the pub or something," she said. It was only when the children in the pub started screaming that the witness realised there was something wrong, she added.
Ms Jackie Kenny, who was also in the pub at the time told the court of "hysterical" children running towards her at the back of the premises, away from the fatally wounded body at the front.
Mr Brendan Foley, who runs a launderette near the Inchicore pub, said he watched a man with a "tight haircut" running from the direction of the Horse and Jockey around the time of the shooting.
The trail continues before Mr Justice Barry White and the jury of six men and six women.