Geoghegan trial shown how gun was loaded

The jury in the Shane Geoghegan murder trial have been given a demonstration of how the gun used to murder the Garryowen rugby player could be loaded and unloaded.

Ballistics expert Detective Garda Mark Collendar was giving evidence to the Central Criminal Court in the second day of the trial of a Dublin man charged with murdering the 28 year old.

Barry Doyle, aged 26, of Portland Row, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Geoghegan on Nov 9, 2008, at Clonmore, Kilteragh, Dooradoyle, in Limerick.

Det Garda Collendar loaded dummy bullets into a Glock semi-automatic pistol, which he assured the court could not fire.

He showed the jury how bullets could be ejected manually from the handgun without firing them. “It’s called racking,” he said.

He explained that this process of unloading the weapon would be used if there was a stoppage or if the gun jammed.

He gave the demonstration after showing the jury two un-discharged rounds of ammunition he had found at the crime scene. Both bullets had ejector marks, meaning they had been in a semi-automatic pistol and had to be ejected manually, he said.

Det Garda Collendar said he also found eight discharged cartridge cases, all of which were fired from the same Glock that had contained the two un-discharged rounds. He said the Glock was never recovered.

Marie Cassidy, the state pathologist, had earlier testified that Mr Geoghegan died of gunshot injuries to his head and trunk. Extensive injuries to his brain and trauma to his right lung were both potentially fatal, she said.

She was giving details of the autopsy, which showed Mr Geoghegan had been shot five times: In the back of his head, right upper arm, abdomen, and twice in his back. She recovered three bullets from his body.

She said that once the injury to the back of his head had been sustained, he would have been incapable of movement and would have collapsed and died rapidly. This was because the bullet completely transected the brain stem and was probably the last injury he sustained.

She said he may have been on the ground where he was found when the wounds to the back of his head and back of his left shoulder were inflicted.

She explained that the different trajectories of the bullets meant movement of one or both parties.

She also identified the clothing Mr Geoghegan was wearing when he was killed. She pointed to the bullet holes and bloodstains in his hat, jacket and polo shirt.

In his opening speech, Tom O’Connell SC, prosecuting, said Barry Doyle admitted shooting Mr Geoghegan during Garda interviews. He said the Garryowen player was killed in a case of mistaken identity.

The trial continues tomorrow.