A BARRISTER ACCUSED of murdering a father-of-four in a fatal shooting on farmland in Tallaght last month has a “powerful incentive to evade justice” and should not be granted bail, a High Court judge has ruled.

Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy today delivered a decision on Diarmuid Rossa Phelan’s application to be granted bail pending his trial.

Ruling on the senior counsel and law lecturer’s application, the judge said that having reflected on the evidence the court had concluded as a matter of probability that the applicant posed a serious flight risk if admitted on bail.

The judge said today that the accused has a “powerful incentive to evade justice” based on the seriousness of the charge, the strength of the evidence, the likely sentence and the on-going threats to the accused.

The judge said the court disagreed with a submission by the accused’s barrister that the accused had a greater understanding of bail obligations than the majority of the population. “People who find themselves in desperate situations will be tempted to evade the consequences,” she added.

Defence counsel Michael O’Higgins submitted to the court last Wednesday that his client is a person who has a greater understanding of having to meet a court order “rather than 99.9 per cent of the population”.

“He stands for something, he has achieved something over the decades and that must count for something,” he said.

Phelan (53), of Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, Co Dublin is accused of the murder of Keith Conlon (36) at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, on 22 February last.

The deceased, from Kiltalown Park in Tallaght, was severely injured in the shooting incident and passed away at Tallaght University Hospital two days later.

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