Dublin murder victim was armed, court hears

A man killed in a Dublin pub last year was wearing a bullet-proof vest and carrying a pistol when he got shot in the head, a murder trial at the Central Criminal Court heard today.

Mr Declan Griffin (aged 32) from Coolock died from the wounds he sustained in the Horse and Jockey pub, Inchicore on April 5, 2003.

Mr Shay Wildes (aged 36) from Corbally Park, Tallaght, denies his murder.

At the fourth day of the trial Detective Garda Shane Henry from the ballistics section of the Garda technical bureau said that the gun found on Mr Griffin contained four .22 inch calibre bullets.

He also confirmed to defence counsel Mr John Peart SC that Mr Griffin’s body armour was “serious” and capable of protecting the wearer from powerful ammunition.

Mr Alan Moore, a friend of Mr Wildes, told the court that they met briefly in a pub the day after the killing.

Mr Moore said that Mr Wildes was “locked” and so drunk that he was speaking “double-Dutch".

When Mr Moore asked the accused if he had heard about the killing in Inchicore, Mr Wildes replied that he had.

Mr Wildes had also phoned Mr Moore to see if he had left a gun in a plastic bag in his car. Mr Moore searched the vehicle, but did not find anything.

Sandra Maguire, the manager of the Horse and Jockey pub on the day of Mr Griffin’s killing, recalled for the court the noise of the fatal gun shot, which went off minutes before she ended her shift.

Mrs Maguire had gone downstairs to get change for her colleague and was waiting for her husband to finish his drink.

“I heard a bang. I thought one of the kids was after throwing a banger into the pub or something,” said Mrs Maguire.

It was only when the children in the pub started screaming that the witness realised there was something wrong.

Jackie Kenny, who was also at the Horse and Jockey on April 5, was sitting at the far end of the pub when the gun went off.

She told the court of “hysterical” children running towards her at the back of the premises, away from the fatally wounded body at the front.

Brendan Foley, who runs a launderette near to the Inchicore pub, said that he watched a man with a “tight haircut” running from the direction of the Horse and Jockey around the time of the shooting.

The court was read a report by Dr Connor DC, from St James’ Hospital Accident and Emergency, who certified Mr Griffin’s death at 1.35am on Sunday, April 6, 2003.

The cause of death was laceration to the brain and inter-cranial haemorrhaging.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Barry White and the jury of six men and six women.