Man gets 5 years for firing shots into house

A LIMERICK man who was shot and wounded in a feud attack was jailed for five years yesterday when he admitted firing three shots from a handgun into a house in Moyross in retaliation.

Limerick Circuit Court heard that Aidan Cahill, 21, of Craeval Park, Moyross, was seen firing the three shots on a CCTV security system which had been fitted to the house.

Cahill pleaded guilty to intentionally and recklessly discharging a firearm, creating a risk of death or serious harm and unlawful possession of a firearm.

The court was told at a previous hearing by State prosecutor John O’Sullivan BL that at about 1am on March 15, 2007, Robert and Margaret Kelly were in bed at their home in College Avenue, Moyross. Their two daughters were also at home.

Mr Kelly heard a window breaking while one of his daughters was watching a TV screen, as she lay in bed, which was showing pictures from a security camera fitted to the front of the house.

The good-quality CCTV pictures showed a person pointing a hand gun and leaving off two shots when standing outside the front garden gate. The gunman then went inside the gate and fired a third shot, before taking off on foot.

The couple’s daughter, who was watching the security film, recognised Cahill as the gunman as she had known him for years. Her mother also recognised Cahill from the CCTV.

One bullet hit the windowsill of the sitting room, another hit a downstairs window frame and a third went through the front door, passed through an internal door before ending up imbedded in a wall in the kitchen.

After his arrest, Cahill denied being involved during four interviews with gardaí and made an admission in the fifth. He claimed he was drunk at the time.

The court heard there was a feud in which Cahill was an active participant. He carried out the shooting in retaliation for a previous shooting in which he was wounded.

Three men had been jailed by Limerick Circuit Court for three years for that shooting, and the Court of Criminal Appeal subsequently increased these sentences to seven years.

Jailing Cahill for five years, Judge Carroll Moran said had he fought the case and been convicted, he would have got an eight-year sentence. The judge said the three-year sentences he had imposed on those who shot Cahill had been raised to seven years by the Court of Appeal and by doing so the higher court had set down a marker on how these cases should be dealt with.