Jury rises in Ballymun shooting case

The jury in the trial of a Dublin man accused of murdering another man by shooting him in the head at close range has risen to consider its verdict at the Central Criminal Court.

Stephen Kelly (aged 22) from Balcurris Road in Ballymun has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 28-year-old Ian McConnell who was gunned down on the first floor landing of a block of flats at Shangan Road in north Dublin in the early hours of December 11, 2005.

Including legal argument the trial has lasted for thirteen days at the Central Criminal Court.

Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins told the jury members they had decisions to make in relation to visual identity and the questions and answers that were put to the accused during his time in garda custody.

He said the jury members also had decisions to make in relation to the alibi evidence heard in the case and he told them: “that’s your job.”

The jury of three women and nine men was then sent to deliberate on its verdict.