Murder trial jury shown video footage

The jury in the trial of a man accused of shooting another man dead in a car on the Clontarf Road nearly four years ago has seen video footage of the scene taken from a passing bus on the night in question.

Richard Collins, a tourist from outside Philadelphia in the USA, told the Central Criminal Court that he was on a tour and was using his camcorder to tape people singing on the bus.

He said the driver of the bus noticed that a car in front jumped a red light.

The bus drove past a car which was stationary in the middle of the road with the driver's door lying open. Mr Collins said other passengers on his bus said they saw bullets holes in the car.

Craig White (aged 23), of O'Devaney Gardens in north inner city Dublin, denies murdering Noel Roche (aged 27) on Clontarf Road on November 15, 2005. Mr Roche was found shot dead in the passenger seat of a Ford Mondeo.

Mr Collins had travelled to Ireland with his wife for their 25th wedding anniversary in November 2005. When the footage was recorded, they had been on a tour to the Abbey Tavern in Howth and were being driven back into the city centre after 10pm.

Mr Collins said that he was later contacted by an FBI agent in America. He said that he thought his daughter was playing a practical joke on him and he initially gave FBI Agent William Collins a "hard time". The witness had been tracked down via the examination of CCTV which had identified the bus.

Mr Collins handed over his camera to a garda who had travelled to America to retrieve it.

Detective Garda John McLoughlin identified for the jury the route taken by the bus on the footage. He pointed out where the video showed a medium-sized hatchback car perform a U-turn on the Clontarf Road and drive towards the city centre.

The detective then indicated where the same car jumped a set of lights in front of the tour bus. The footage then showed what Det Gda McLoughlin referred to as the crime scene. He said the bus entered the bus lane to pass a stationary car of which the driver's door was lying open.

Detective Sergeant Shane Henry, a ballistics expert, told Anthony Sammon SC, prosecuting, that he examined a Glock semi-automatic pistol which had been given to him in the course of this investigation. He said the serial number had been ground off the gun and this had damaged the weapon, causing it to jam after a certain number of shots were fired from it.

From an examination of bullets and cartridge cases found at the scene of Mr Roche's shooting, Det Sgt Henry was of the opinion that they had been fired from the pistol he had been asked to examine.

He said that the cartridge cases were found on the ground outside the Ford Mondeo in which Mr Roche died and their position indicated that the person who fired the weapon was within a short range of the car.

Garda Philippa Cantwell told the court that she was in a patrol car which responded to a call that there had been a shooting. She said the driver was missing from the abandoned vehicle which contained Mr Roche, and was possibly injured. Gda Cantwell searched the streets surrounding the scene of the shooting but the driver of the car was not found.

Sergeant Gerard McCarthy said that he was part of a search team which examined an area surrounding Furry Park Road the following day where a stolen vehicle was abandoned by two men on the night of the shooting. He said two blue sports gloves were found in a garden and on the footpath of the road.

The prosecution's opening statement indicated that forensic evidence would link the accused to the gloves and to items found in the stolen car on Furry Park Road.

The trial will continue on Monday in legal argument before Mr Justice George Birmingham in the absence of the jury. The jury has been told to return on Tuesday morning.