Jury in Collopy trial sent home

The jury in the trial of a 20 year old Limerick man who denies murdering a carpenter who was shot in the head while “ in the wrong place at the wrong time” will resume its deliberations tomorrow.

The nine women and three men were sent home for the evening today, after failing to agree a unanimous verdict in the murder trial of Kenneth Collopy following an hour and a half of deliberations at the Central Criminal Court.

Collopy of Kilonan, Ballysimon, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Daniel Fitzgerald on December 8, 2009.

The 25 year old was shot in the head and leg as he left his uncle's home at Ballysimon at around half past nine that evening.

The defence argues that Collopy had only intended to shoot at the caravans the Fitzgerald family were temporarily staying in at the time, after he was mistakenly led to believe that a family member was responsible for an arson attack on his mother's van, which she used in her job as a market trader.

Addressing the jury, senior defence counsel, Mr Brendan Grehan SC said Collopy was a “hot-headed teenager, foolish, stupid, with a misconceived perception of retaliation, acting recklessly and dangerously, but without the necessary intent of killing”.

He said Daniel Fitzgerald died because “he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Mr Fitzgerald's father, Noel, who was in court with his family then interrupted the speech saying “Kenneth Collopy was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He put his head and said “my son is dead.”

Mr Grehan then said Collopy was responsible for the death of Mr Fitzgerald but did not have the necessary intention for murder.

He said the shooting was “not something that has any of the hallmarks of serious planning” and that it was “a reckless act” that had to be distinguished from an act with serious intent.

He asked the jury to consider the fact that there were two people in the car with Collopy at the time, and they went on to be witnesses in the case.

Prosecuting barrister, Ms Mary-Ellen Ring SC, however said to the jury a “true verdict in accordance with the evidence is one of guilty (of murder)”.

She urged them to consider the evidence of Jason O'Donoghue, who said Collopy asked him for a lift to Ballysimon, then threatened to shoot him and told him to get out of the car when he refused to drive into the Fitzgerald's yard.

“The prosecution says Mr Collopy formed an intention, attained a gun, went to the Fitzgerald's household, took over driving of the car, he wasn't to be put off, he was going in there come hell or high water” Ms Ring said.

She urged the jury to pay particular attention to the forensic evidence that all of the bullets fired at the caravan were found in the living area, where Paul Fitzgerald, his three-month old baby, wife and other children were present.

“Mr Collopy took it upon himself to get a Glock, to have 16 or 17 bullets, he went there with some warped view of revenge and he didn't care,” Ms Ring said.

In charging the jury, Mr Justice Barry White said the verdicts of either murder or manslaughter were open to them.

He said the central issue for them was “not the intention of the accused man when he might have gone out to Fitzgerald's home, but what his state of mind was when pulling the trigger.”

He instructed the jury to return a unanimous verdict.

The case resumes tomorrow.