Man claims he could not appear at sentence hearing because he had been shot

A MAN due to be sentenced at Limerick Circuit Court yesterday for a heroin offence failed to turn up, claiming he had been shot and saved by a bullet-proof vest he was wearing.

Liam Kelly, 22, of Ard Na Luachra, Lower Park, Corbally, had at a previous hearing pleaded guilty to having heroin for sale or supply at Broad Street on May 15, 2009.

When his case was called yesterday a medical cert was handed in to Judge Carroll Moran, stating Kelly was unfit to attend.