Murder trial witness denies he was 'looking for fight'

The uncle of a man shot in the back at a family funeral has denied suggestions that he was "looking for a fight" outside a Sligo cemetery, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Defence counsel suggested to Mr "Jaws" Ward snr (aged 63) that he travelled with his son to the funeral for a fight on May 10, 1999.

"We were not there for a fight. We were there for a funeral", the witness said.

Mr Michael "Hitler Bumbee" McDonagh snr (aged 58), Mr Martin "Bumbee" McDonagh snr (aged 53), Mr Michael McDonagh jnr (aged 29), Mr Patrick McDonagh (aged 33) and Mr Martin "Spider Bumbee" McDonagh jnr (aged 26) from Hertfordshire in London have all denied the murder of Mr Ward.

The five also deny the attempted murder of Mr Patrick "Jaws" Ward snr, Mr Patrick "Jaws" Ward jnr and Mr Edward "Ned" Ward on the same date.

Mr "Deuce" Ward, (aged 38), a father of six originally from Galway but resident in Manchester had travelled to Ireland for the funeral of his uncle, in Ballymote, Co. Sligo on May 10 1999 when he was fatally shot.

Mr "Jaws" Ward snr travelled with his son and daughter-in-law in a green hi-ace van from Galway on the morning of the funeral. He claims that when they arrived at Ballymote cemetery, up to 100 members of the McDonagh family started throwing stones at them. A fracas broke out, in the course of which the deceased was shot dead and the witness and two others were shot at by the accused men.

Mr Brendan Nix, SC suggested to Mr Ward snr that his brother, Tom "Joker" Ward had told the witness and his son that the McDonagh’s were looking for trouble at the graveyard.

"I didn’t hear it," Mr Ward snr said.

"Unless your son is a perjurer, that is what he told us last week," Mr Nix told the witness.

"It might have been said to him but it wasn’t said to me," he said.

"This is the first time I heard that they were there for trouble. If I knew, we wouldn’t have gone. That would mean they were waiting for us," Mr Ward snr added.

Mr Nix SC suggested to the witness that his brother, Tom "Joker" Ward had told them they were driving into an ambush at the cemetery.

Mr Ward snr told the court, "we didn’t know we were going into an ambush".

The witness denied claims that he saw a slash hook in his son’s hand when was walking towards the crowd of McDonagh’s outside the cemetery.

"All I seen when I got out of the van was the McDonagh’s firing stones," he said.

Under cross-examination, Mr Anthony Sammon SC suggested to the witness that he wished to gain revenge against the McDonagh family after the fatal shooting.

"Our revenge is the law, to seek justice. We don’t like taking the law into our own hands," Mr Ward snr said.

Mr Salmon SC suggested to Mr Ward snr that he was "using the law" to seek revenge. "I deny that", said the witness.

The defence counsel then suggested to the witness that there were "lies" in his first and subsequent statements to gardaí regarding the number of gunmen.

Initially Mr Ward snr said three gunmen opened fire at the cemetery but in later statements to gardaí, he said there were five or six gunmen.

Mr Salmon SC suggested to Mr Ward snr that he was "trying to cover up for the lies he told in his first statement by bridging the gap in further statements".

The defence counsel said to Mr Ward snr that he "proclaimed to be a peaceful man". But Mr Sammon SC said: "I suggest to you that the contrary is the case."

"If you checked my records, you would know I never had any trouble," Mr Ward snr replied.

On the day of the funeral in May 1999, there was a heavy garda presence around the graveyard. Vehicles were stopped and checked for weapons.

When asked about the garda checkpoints, Mr Ward snr said he "never asked the gardaí what they were searching for".

A few shovels were taken by gardaí from the back of the hi-ace van the witness was travelling in at a checkpoint half a mile from the graveyard in Ballymote.

"I never really thought about it," Mr Ward snr said.

"It happens regular at funerals. There do be arguments around the graveyards at funerals," he said.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill at the Central Criminal Court.