Father watched as gunman shot son four times, inquest hears

The father of a drug dealer watched as his son was fatally shot four times in the chest, an inquest heard yesterday.

Mark Glennon, aged 32, was shot by a lone gunman in the garden of his home at Hazelwood Crescent, Hartstown, Dublin 15, on Sept 7, 2005. He was killed five months after his brother Andrew was also murdered in a gangland shooting.

Mr Glennon, a father of one, had been hiding out in his home at the time of his death having been notified by gardaí that someone had made threats on his life, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard.

His friend Stephen Byrne was running errands for him on the day of his death.

Mr Byrne said shortly before 4pm, he had been standing in the garden with the deceased and his father Frank Glennon chatting about football. The deceased suddenly shouted out a warning and when Mr Byrne looked to his left he saw a man standing at the bushes who then fired on Mr Glennon.

In a deposition, Frank Glennon said they had been standing in the garden for about 20 minutes before the incident. Mr Glennon said his son had shouted “down” at which point he swivelled around and came “face to face” with the gunman.

“I saw this man point the weapon at Mark and fire about four or more shots going into him. Mark was wearing a white vest and it was hard not to see the shots going into him.”

However, neighbour John Doyle said he saw the deceased being chased into the cul-de-sac on foot by a man in his early 20s. Mr Glennon ran into his drive way at which point the gunman opened fire, according to Mr Doyle.

Both Mr Byrne and Mr Glennon Sr were unharmed in the incident.

The gunman made his escape on foot.

The deceased was in cardiac arrest when emergency services attended the scene. He was pronounced dead at Connolly Hospital an hour later.

During an autopsy, state pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy found the deceased had been shot four times in the torso with lacerations to the lungs, heart, and liver leading to his death.

Mr Glennon’s family was not present in court. Superintendent Colm Fox said the family had been contacted but they had “forgotten” the inquest was on and that they were happy for it to continue in their absence. He said gardaí had arrested and questioned four people in relation to the incident but had insufficient evidence to launch a prosecution.

The file remains open.

The jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing by a person unknown.