Diarmuid Phelan, a law professor, was found not guilty of murdering a trespasser on his farm after claiming he acted in self-defense. The jury accepted his account that he felt threatened and fired warning shots.
Law professor Diarmuid Phelan, who stood trial for the murder of a trespasser on his farm but consistently maintained he had no intention of shooting him and acted in self-defense when he fired three warning shots, has been acquitted by a Central Criminal Court jury.
The panel of nine men and three women delivered their unanimous verdict to Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford this evening, agreeing with the defense case that Mr Phelan was entitled to defend himself when he felt threatened on his own land. They deliberated for six hours and 51 minutes over two days following a ten-week trial. Mr Phelan (56) showed no immediate reaction as the 12 jurors left the courtroom but was later seen embracing his family. Members of the victim Keith Conlon's family quickly left the courtroom as soon as the not guilty verdict was announced. The jury rejected the State's argument that when the third shot was fired by Mr Phelan, the gun was pointed in the direction of Mr Conlon, who was shot in the back of the head, and that at that point Mr Phelan intended to either kill or cause serious injury to Mr Conlon. Instead, the jurors accepted Mr Phelan's position that he was acting in self-defense after two trespassers were 'coming to fulfil the threats they had made' and that he felt fearful and facing an 'imminent attack' as the men closed in on him. The jury had the option of returning three verdicts in relation to the murder charge against Phelan: guilty of murder, not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, or not guilty.
MURDER SELF-DEFENSE FARM TRIAL JURY
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