Jury must decide if accused fired gun, court told

A prosecuting barrister has told a jury that the issue they have to decide is whether the accused pulled the trigger and discharged the bullet that killed the deceased in a Dublin pub two years ago.

Tom O’Connell SC in his closing speech at the Central Criminal Court said Declan Griffin was shot in the head at close range on April 5, 2003 at the Horse and Jockey pub. The issue, the prosecutor told the jury, that they must decide is "did Shay Wildes pull the trigger and discharge .38 (calibre) bullet that killed Declan Griffin?"

"There is no doubt that Shay Wildes was in the company of Sandro Dambrosio and Declan Griffin.

"Declan Griffin sat between them at the time he received the fatal bullet," Mr O’Connell SC said. "It is the evidence of Sandro Danbrosio that Shay Wildes was the trigger man," the prosecutor told the jury.

Shay Wildes from Corbally Park in Tallaght has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 32-year-old Declan Griffin from Coolock on April 5, 2003 in the Horse and Jockey pub, in Inchicore.