Belfast taxi driver killed with revolver bullet, court hears

A Belfast taxi driver was killed by a .38 inch calibre bullet fired from a revolver, a murder trial at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin heard today.

Mr Jonathan Greer, a forensic scientist in the North, told the court that the bullet recovered from the body of Mr Edward Burns was a lead jacketed .38 inch calibre bullet probably fired from a Smith and Wesson revolver.

Mr Greer said that a bullet fragment taken from the arm of Mr Damien O'Neill who was shot twice but survived was copper jacketed bullet and its calibre could not be determined.

Belfast man Gerard Mackin is on trial in Dublin for the murder of Mr Burns in Belfast last year and for the attempted murder of Mr O'Neill.

Cross examined by Mr Paul Mc Dermott SC for the defence, Mr Greer said it was possible that the bullets recovered from Mr Burns and Mr O’ Neill were fired by different guns.

But he also told prosecuting counsel Mr Tom O’ Connell Sc that it was equally possible they were fired from the same gun.

The court has heard that Mr Burns, a 36-year-old father of five, died from a single shot fired at close range.

Gerard Mackin has denied the murder of Mr Burns, of Prospect Park, Belfast, at Bog Meadow, Falls Road, Belfast on March 12 last year.

He also denies the attempted murder of Mr Damien O' Neill (aged 25), the possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and causing serious harm to Mr O' Neill on the same date.

Mackin (aged 26), a native of the Whiterock area of west Belfast, with an address at Raheen Close, Tallaght, Dublin has opted for trial in the Republic under the Criminal Law Jurisdiction Act of 1976 which allows suspects to be tried in the Republic for alleged offences in Britain or Northern Ireland.

The court last month heard evidence over two days at Belfast Crown Court from a number of witnesses who were reluctant to travel to Dublin, including the main prosecution witness, Mr Damien O'Neill, who was himself shot twice during the incident but survived.

Mr O'Neill identified the accused Mackin as the man who shot Mr Burns and who then shot him (O'Neill.)

The trial continues next Tuesday.