Victim shared beer with killer before shooting

The victim of a targeted shooting shared a can of beer with his killer moments before he was shot three times in the head, an inquest heard.

Vincent O’Brien, 53, was shot multiple times as he sat on the couch in the living room of his home at Kilbride Grove in Bray, Co Wicklow, on Aug 10, 2005.

Dublin Coroner’s Court heard that Mr O’Brien’s next-door neighbours, Patrick and Breda Tobin, were watching television just after 10pm when they heard four loud bangs. The gunman, who was wearing a baseball cap and a hooded top, was seen running past the Tobin’s house by a family friend immediately after the noise. It is believed he made his escape on foot.

Ms Tobin rushed into the deceased’s house where she found him slumped on the couch. “He was in an awful way,” she told Coroner Dr Brian Farrell. She and another neighbour tried to help by stemming the bleeding with towels and throws. He had wounds to the front and back of the head.

Mr O’Brien was taken to St Colmcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

State pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy carried out the postmortem and found Mr O’Brien had been shot three times in the head and once in the hand. The injuries would lead to rapid collapse and death, the court heard.

Detective Insp Frank Keenaghan told the court gardaí are satisfied the shooting was carried out by a lone gunman who had spent some time in the victim’s company and was known to him. There were a number of beer cans in the room but Mr O’Brien had a relatively low level of alcohol in his system at the time of death.

“He had two Alsatians and they did not make strange at the lone gunman, which suggests he had been there on previous occasions,” he said.

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