A LAW PROFESSOR who denies murdering an unarmed trespasser in a fatal shooting at his farm told gardaí he was terrified when three men “exploded” out of bushes on his land “screaming and roaring” and began “effectively threatening” him about who had shot their dog.

In his interviews with gardaí, leading barrister Diarmuid Phelan told detectives that he had shouted at the men to stay back, but they “kept coming” and he believed they were “coming to fulfil the threats they had made”.

Earlier, the court heard that when Mr Phelan was arrested and placed in a patrol car, he asked gardaí whether he could wash his hands and if the injured man was a Traveller.

The trial has already heard that the accused had taken powder from a First Aid bag and put it on the back of the deceased’s head in an attempt to stop the bleeding, while none of the three trespassers were members of the Travelling Community.

Mr Phelan (56) has pleaded not guilty to murdering father-of-four Keith Conlon (36) at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, Dublin 24 on 24 February, 2022.

The accused man is a barrister, law lecturer and farmer who owns Hazelgrove, formerly a golf course in Tallaght.

Evidence has been given that Mr Phelan fired three shots from his Smith & Wesson revolver and it is the State’s case that two of the shots were fired into the air, while the third connected with Mr Conlon.

In her opening speech, Roisin Lacey SC said the prosecution’s case is that when the third shot was fired, the gun was pointed in the direction of the deceased who was shot in the back of the head when he had turned away to leave.

Giving evidence today, Detective Sergeant Michael McGrath told John Byrne SC, prosecuting, that when he arrived at the scene, Mr Conlon was being attended to by paramedics. He observed a wound at the back of Mr Conlon’s head and blood “pouring out”.

The detective said Mr Phelan was standing alone and when he asked him what had happened, Mr Phelan replied: “I shot him”.

Det Sgt McGrath said he immediately cautioned Mr Phelan and observed blood on his hands.

Mr Phelan was arrested at 1.45pm under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act for the possession of a firearm with intent to endanger others. Mr Phelan was placed in a patrol car and brought to Tallaght Garda Station.

The witness said it was agreed with a Chief Superintendent at the scene that a DNA swab would be taken from Mr Phelan at the garda station to see whether any firearm residue was on his hands.

Det Sgt McGrath said the accused had asked him in the patrol car on the way back to the garda station whether he could wash his hands. “I explained he wouldn’t be able to wash his hands until the DNA swabs were done,” said the officer.

The witness said Mr Phelan asked about the wellbeing of Mr Conlon in the patrol car and whether the injured man was a Traveller.

“I didn’t answer him either way. I told him the man was being treated and paramedics were with him,” said the detective.

He said Mr Phelan had not known the injured man.

In the first of four interviews which took place at 7.40pm on 23 February, Mr Phelan told gardaí that he was still “shook up” about what had happened but he would tell them as best he could.

The accused said he and his farmhands had been working along a bank by a stream and one of the agricultural workers had heard a dog. He said they worked on for some time but when the noise could still be heard from the dog at lunchtime he decided it “couldn’t be left over”.

Mr Phelan said he asked one of the workers to follow him down with his sheepdog pup.

“When I got to the river I called to see if anyone was there, I called twice and there was no reply,” he continued.

He said he saw a dog “apparently alone and loose” which he shot at.

He said immediately three men, some in camouflage clothing, had “exploded” from a bush where he said they had been hiding. He said they had roared but he didn’t know they were there until the men had “exploded out of the bushes”.

“They were effectively threatening about who shot the dog…something about a claim and about getting me,” he continued.

“Someone said it was not my land, which I said it was,” he told officers.

The accused told detectives that when the three men “started talking about getting me, someone started taking a photo of me”.

He said he had tried to get out of there “as fast as possible”. He said he was “very scared”, that his hands were shaking and he couldn’t get back up the bank.

Mr Phelan said he had an impression that the men sensed his fear but that he couldn’t locate his phone in his pocket. He asked his farmhand to call the gardaí.

The accused said he told gardaí it was urgent and he “couldn’t handle it”. “These guys exploded from the undergrowth, they were screaming and roaring at us,” he continued.

The accused told detectives that he went back up the bank and that he hates shooting dogs. “I only ever had to shoot one before, when a pack of seven came in from the Traveller’s camp”.

He said he was alerted to the “Travellers” coming towards them and he could see two men but that there had been three in the woods.

“I don’t know how many there were when I shouted we had called gardaí; this had no effect, one man in camouflage was in front,” he stated.

He said he didn’t know where the third man was and suspected he had left.

“I shouted at them to stay back, they kept coming……I couldn’t go backwards so I went forward to them to get them back,” he continued.

Mr Phelan said he was “terrified” at this stage and the man had seen it.

“They came up onto the bank so I had to come forward and tried to stop them to get away at a safe distance….They saw me and then came on again,” he said.

He added: “They were coming to fulfil the threats they had made. The lead man had something towards the front of his camouflage jacket. I couldn’t tell you what it was. I want to stress that I was terrified”.

The accused said he reached for the revolver in his pocket and shot in the air. He could not tell gardai whether he had discharged two or three shots.

“My memory is the arc over their heads from left to right, from what I remember is I shot left in the air towards the right over their heads in this sort of direction,” said Mr Phelan.

Mr Conlon, from Kiltalown Park in Tallaght, was seriously injured in the shooting incident on February 22 and died at Tallaght University Hospital two days later.

The trial continues this afternoon before Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford and a jury of nine men and three women.