The uncle of a man shot in the back at a family funeral has denied suggestions that he was not at the cemetery when gunshots were fired.
Defence counsel Mr Fergal Kavanagh SC, acting on behalf of Mr Martin "Hilter Bumbee" McDonagh snr, suggested to the accused's cousin, Mr Patrick "Jaws" Ward snr (63), that his "version of the events are totally different" to his son's evidence last week.
"I have to suggest to you, that you were not with your son," Mr Kavanagh said.
"Me and my son got out of the van together," Mr "Jaws" Ward snr replied.
When asked by Mr Kavanagh to identify areas on a map of the area where the fatal shooting occurred, Mr "Jaws" Ward snr said he was "not good at maps and for starters I cannot read or write".
The State witness said he "heard" there was a feud between the Wards and the McDonagh families in Britain. "I think there was a Ward killed with a knife by a cousin of the McDonagh's. There was an argument in the pub in London."
Under cross-examination by Mr Brendan Nix SC, Mr "Jaws" Ward snr said he originally got the nickname "Jaws" when he was aged 36. "I got out my teeth when I was 36 so that had a lot to do with it," he said.
Mr Nix asked Mr "Jaws" Ward snr how much did he pay to "learn how to obstruct and block questioning". "It seems you and your son have been coached in it," Mr Nix suggested.
"I've no education only road work. The only thing I can do is spell my name," he told Mr Nix under cross-examination.
The trial continues today in the Central Criminal Court before Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill.
Five men have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Patrick "Deuce" Ward in May 1999 at Carrownanty Cemetery in Ballymote, Co Sligo.
Mr Michael "Hitler Bumbee" McDonagh snr (58), Mr Martin "Bumbee" McDonagh snr (53), Mr Michael McDonagh jnr (29), Mr Patrick McDonagh (33) and Mr Martin "Spider Bumbee" McDonagh jnr (26), from Hertfordshire in London, have all denied the murder of Mr Ward.
Mr "Deuce" Ward (38), a father of six originally from Galway but resident in Manchester, had travelled to Ireland for the funeral of his uncle, Mr Patrick "Skillet" Ward, in Ballymote on May 10th, 1999, when he was fatally wounded.
Mr "Jaws" Ward snr said the accused brothers, Michael and Martin McDonagh snr, are his first cousins. "My mother and their father are brother and sister," he said. On the morning of the funeral of Patrick "Skillet" Ward, Mr "Jaws" Ward snr travelled to the cemetery in Sligo with his son and daughter-in-law.
Mr "Jaws" Ward snr said they were met by 80-100 members of the McDonagh family.
He claims two of Michael "Hitler Bumbee" McDonagh snr's sons started throwing stones at them. "We moved towards the crowd, I shouted to Michael saying 'can I talk to you', he ignored it. I got a blow of a stone to the right hip.
I said again, 'Michael, can I talk to you' and he turned around and said 'shoot them, shoot them, shoot them'," Mr "Jaws" Ward snr said.