Key murder trial witness denies IRA threats

A key prosecution witness in the trial of a Dublin man charged with the murder of Wayne Doherty has denied that the IRA threatened to kill him if he did not give evidence in court.

A key prosecution witness in the trial of a Dublin man charged with the murder of Wayne Doherty has today denied that the IRA threatened to kill him if he did not give evidence in court.

Robert Hughes was giving evidence in the second day of the trial of Robert Egan (27) who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Wayne Doherty at Oakview Way, Hartstown on July 5, 2009.

Mr Egan, of Dromheath Avenue, Mulhuddart, has pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of a shotgun at Oakview Way, Hartstown on July 4, 2009.

Mr Doherty was shot outside his parents' home after he attempted to stop a dispute involving his friends and the accused Robert Egan late on the night of July 4, 2009.

The 32-year-old father of two came to be involved in the dispute, which stemmed from a fight at a christening earlier in the day, after Robert Hughes asked for his support in a prearranged one-on-one fight known as a “straightener” with Mr Egan.

Mr Hughes, a friend and neighbour of Mr Doherty, denied a suggestion under cross-examination that the IRA wanted to kill him and that the only reason he had not been killed was that the group wanted him to give evidence against Mr Egan.

However, he told counsel for the accused, Mr Michael O’Higgins SC, that a person claiming to be in the IRA did contact him to inform him he was going to be killed, telling him: “My mate is dead because of you.”

Mr Hughes agreed that he had been beaten up in June and told Mr O’Higgins that the only reason he had not been killed was that he had left the country.

He said that he was aware that the prosecution were originally desirous for him to give evidence via video link and that gardaí were “worried” about threats made against him. Mr Hughes denied that this had “weighed heavily” on him in the courtroom and said he had come to the trial to tell the truth.

Mr Hughes said that he initially contacted Wayne Doherty and asked him to become involved in the “straightener” because he believed that the chances of a one-on-one fight developing were slim and that Mr Doherty was a well-respected individual whom he wanted to act as a “referee”.

He denied that Wayne Doherty had a reputation as an IRA man and told Mr O’Higgins that the suggestion the deceased may have been a member of the IRA would come as a “complete shock” to him.

In his direct evidence, Mr Hughes told the court that he went to a christening at a public house on the evening of July 4 where Andrew Jameson, a friend of the accused Robert Egan, was also in attendance.

He said that he was not on good terms with Mr Jameson, but approached him and asked if he would like to “bury the hatchet”, whereupon Mr Jameson “shrugged him off”. Mr Hughes said that when he later went to the men’s toilet, Mr Jameson stood behind him at the urinal with his fists clenched.

He said that after he asked Mr Jameson again if he would like to “call it quits”, Mr Jameson started “swinging punches”. Mr Hughes said that a brawl then ensued, which continued out in to the function room and eventually spilled out on to the car park of the premises.

He said Mr Jameson sustained a “busted nose” during the fight and threw a pint glass at his head before speeding from the scene in a car driven by Robert Egan.

Mr Hughes said later that night he received a telephone call from the accused Robert Egan informing him that his mother’s house would be targeted unless he agreed to come to a “straightener” to resolve the dispute.

He told the jury he then agreed to meet at the accused at Oakview Way view later that evening and sought to garner support for the coming confrontation by picking up his friend Eric O’Callaghan and contacting David Bolton, the deceased man Wayne Doherty and his brother David Doherty.

Mr Hughes said that when the five men gathered on the footpath at Oakview Way after 11pm, they saw two cars approaching from approximately 60 metres away with their lights off.

He said that when he recognised the accused Robert Egan walking in front of one of the cars carrying a sawn-off shotgun he shouted to his friends: “He has a shooter lads leg it.”

Mr Hughes said he ran to the side of a neighbouring house and heard Mr Doherty shout “Bobby you just hide.” He said that as he jumped on to a small wall between a row of houses he heard a shot fired and looked back to see Mr Doherty walk toward the accused Robert Egan.

Mr Hughes said that when he jumped off this wall he heard a second shout and screaming from the direction of the road. He said that when he emerged from behind the wall and out on to the road he came upon Wayne Doherty lying shot on the ground in a semi-conscious state.

Under cross-examination, Mr Hughes told Mr O’Higgins that he did not see the deceased man carrying a hammer on the night he was killed.

The trial continues in front of Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of five men and six women.