A traveller who was murdered in his bed during a dawn raid on his caravan by two men wearing balaclavas, died from two close-range gunshot wounds to his chest, a jury at the Central Criminal Court heard today.

The murder trial of a Galway traveller ground to a halt on its first day today when up to six garda witnesses failed to appear at the Central Criminal Court.

A traveller accused of murdering a cousin at a halting site in Laois four years ago was the driver of the getaway car for two men who broke into the victim's caravan and shot him twice as he lay in bed, a jury at the Central Criminal Court heard today.