Man jailed for life for shooting friend dead after drinking binge

A 20 year-old Limerick man was jailed for life today for murdering a friend who he shot in the chest after a five-day drinking binge.

James Keane pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court in Limerick this morning to the murder of Stephen Carey (aged 23) at College Avenue, Moyross, Limerick on June 13, 2004.

Keane had initially denied the charge but the court heard today that he had changed his plea to guilty and he hoped that the dead man's family might one day "find it in their hearts" to forgive him.

However, the victim's girlfriend and mother of his two young sons said she could never forgive Keane and added that he had taken away a person who was better than the accused.

Garda Darragh Maguire gave evidence that Keane, the deceased, Gary Carey, and other people had been drinking heavily outside a house at College Avenue in Moyross.

A row started between Keane and the Careys and a lot of slagging and name-calling took place, the court heard.

Some time later, Keane went away and came back with a sawn-off shotgun which he was carrying by his side.

Another row ensued between Keane and Stephen Carey and the accused was upset that the deceased would not shake hands with him following their argument.

In an effort to protect his brother, Gary Carey told Keane "Shoot me. Don't shoot my brother." Keane took two cartridges out of the shotgun and went into the house.

However, unknown to the people gathered outside, Keane reloaded the weapon and came back out firing one round at Stephen Carey, hitting him in the chest from four or five feet.

He then turned the shotgun in the direction of Gary Carey and discharged one round, narrowly missing Mr Carey, who ran towards the door of the house.

After fleeing the scene, Keane carefully hid the shotgun at the back of a house and then went to another location where he hid his clothes.

Stephen Carey was taken by ambulance to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, where he died a few hours later during emergency surgery from wounds suffered to his chest and stomach.

Gda Maguire gave evidence that Keane, who was arrested and brought to Mayorstone Garda Station for questioning, had initially denied all knowledge of the shooting.

Following consultations with his mother and aunt, he gave gardaí a full account of the shooting in a statement and told them where they could find the gun and the clothes which he had hidden.

Gda Maguire said that Keane came from a good family and the whole family had been very co-operative during the investigation.

He had a small number of previous convictions for offences including possession of drugs and assault.

Defence Counsel, Brendan Nix SC said a group of people had been drinking at the house in College Avenue, Moyross, for five days.

"There was lots of drinking, carousing and drugs were taken with very little sleep involved," said Mr Nix.

Gardaí had previously called to the house to warn the people gathered there about their behaviour.

Mr Nix read an extract from Keane's statement to gardaí in which he said: "Tell Louise I didn't mean to kill her boyfriend.

"Tell her it was a pure accident and I didn't mean to pull the trigger." The dead man's girlfriend and the mother of his two children, Louise O'Donnell, told the court that she had been living with her late boyfriend and they had been in a relationship for eight years.

At the request of the prosecution, she was allowed to make a brief statement in the witness box.

"What he (Keane) has done to Stephen's family, to me and to our children will never be forgiven. He took away a person who was better than him and I have to go through that everyday.

"The suffering is unreal and no-one knows what its like. The way he was taken away was terrible.

"He was a better man. He was a good man," she said. Defence Counsel, Brendan Nix, (SC) said it was "cold comfort" to Ms O'Donnell that his client had changed his plea to guilty and he read from a letter written by the accused to Louise O'Donnell.

"I would like to let your family know that I am sorry for taking his life. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about it.

"I hope that some day Stephen Carey's family might find it in their hearts to forgive me." Mr Nix told the court that he wanted to put it on the record that he had no indication that his client was going to change his plea to guilty and added that he did it of his own volition to put perspective on his actions.

Mr Justice Paul Carney imposed a mandatory life sentence for murder and backdated the sentence to June 14, 2004.