Garda accused of telling lies in shotgun case

The lawyer for a man charged with carrying a pump-action shotgun during an attempted aggravated burglary accused a garda of telling great lies in the witness box as the officer said he clearly saw the defendant at the crime scene.

Brendan Nix, for Niall Fitzpatrick, made the accusations during his cross-examination of Garda Alan Lyon, a member of the Garda Regional Support Unit, who said he saw the accused on the night in question.

“My client was not there, he was elsewhere,” Mr Nix told Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.

Garda Lyon said: “I saw Niall Fitzpatrick on the night.”

Mr Nix said: “You may even believe you saw him but it was not him; he was not there on the night. You are telling lies, it was not my client.”

Mr Nix said the witness was saying things that corroborated previous witness evidence despite the fact he had not made reference to them in his statement.

“It beggars logic that you come in here just to agree with your colleagues,” Mr Nix said.

Garda Lyon replied: “That is not correct.”

The garda described Mr Fitzpatrick vaulting over a wall to get away from the scene. Mr Nix questioned how this could have been done. Garda Lyon said of the 46-year-old: “He maintains a high level of fitness, he is a very fit and strong man for his age.”

Detective Garda Shane Curran, a ballistic expert, said the gun Mr Fitzpatrick is accused of possessing was a Remington 12-guage pump-action shotgun sawn-off at the barrel and butt.

Tom Creed, prosecuting, asked the witness to comment on Mr Nix’s description of it as “unloved”.

Det Garda Curran said it was in poor condition but was a lethal firearm which did what it was designed to do — discharge live ammunition.

The case resumes on Monday.

Mr Fitzpatrick, aged 46, of Corrin Close, the Glen, Cork, denies charges of possession of a 12-guage pump-action shotgun and ammunition, and attempted aggravated burglary at the home of Pat Glavin at Rougrane, Glanmire, Co Cork, on August 11 last year.