The main witness in the trial of four men accused of the fatal shooting of a Limerick nightclub doorman has told a jury at the Central Criminal Court that one of the accused men got him a gun and showed him how to use it.
James Martin Cahill told Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, prosecuting, that Anthony Kelly gave him a gun and a clip full of bullets and showed him how to use it.
Cahill is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of Brian Fitzgerald (34) in November 2002. The trial is taking place amid added security at the court at Cloverhill Prison in Dublin.
Gary Campion (24), Pineview Gardens, Moyross, Limerick, John (27) and Desmond (23) Dundon, both from Ballinacurra, Weston, Co Limerick, and Mr Kelly (50), Kilrush, Co Clare, plead not guilty to murdering Mr Fitzgerald at Mill Road, Corbally, Limerick.
Cahill (33) told Mr Buckley that he had been born in Birmingham but had moved to Co Clare to stay with an uncle when he was about 15. He had committed the murder on his 28th birthday.
He was asked by Mr A to shoot someone who had "made a statement against him". He was offered €10,000 and agreed to do it. Mr Kelly was to provide him with a gun and bullets.
Cahill said he had travelled to Dublin with Mr A and another man, Mr B, to talk to a third man, Mr C, who was to drive a motorcycle for the shooting.
He described how, after several meetings with Mr A, he was driven to Mr Kelly's house where Mr Kelly provided him with a gun and showed him how to use it. "He was clicking it back and showing me how to use it, the safety and that."
Cahill said Mr Kelly talked to him as he was leaving. "He said he didn't want to know what we were doing but not to mess it up." He told Mr Buckley: "he just said, don't mess around."
On the day of the murder, he said, Mr C arrived with the bike but it had clutch problems. He was sitting in Mr B's car with Desmond Dundon and Mr Campion, whom Mr Dundon asked if he would drive the motorbike.
Cahill told Mr Buckley that Mr Dundon pointed out Mr Fitzgerald to him outside Doc's Nightclub in Limerick. "I walked past him. I didn't take much notice of him. It was just he was a big lad."
He also said that both Dundons drove with him out to Mr Fitzgerald's home one day to see where the CCTV cameras were.
He said on the night of the shooting, he and Mr Campion hid in some bushes near the house until Mr Fitzgerald arrived home. Desmond Dundon phoned Cahill to tell them when he had left work.
When Mr Fitzgerald's vehicle pulled up, Cahill said he ran towards it and there was an argument. "I shot him in the heart then after a while I walked round and shot him in the head." He said he didn't know how many times he fired. "I just clicked it."
After the shooting Cahill and Mr Campion drove to collect the red Mondeo they had been using. Cahill gave Mr Campion his helmet and left him to dispose of the motorcycle and the helmets. He said he left the gun and the cartridge of bullets in a hedge.
He went back to Mr B's house, had a shower and got changed out of the clothes he had worn for the murder. Then he was driven to Heuston Station in Dublin where he was met by Mr A and driven to Connolly Station to get the Belfast train.
Cahill said he and Mr A booked into a hotel in Belfast where they met John Dundon. They stayed in Belfast for a couple of days before travelling to England. Cahill told Mr Buckley he could not remember whether they went to Manchester or Birmingham but remembered meeting Mr Kelly in a Manchester hotel. He denied that they talked about the murder.
Mr Justice Peter Charleton adjourned the trial to allow the defence to study the transcript of Cahill's evidence before starting cross-examination this morning.