Men on trial for robbery attempt which saw alleged accomplice shot dead

Two men have gone on trial accused of the attempted robbery of a cash van during which their alleged accomplice was killed and shot.

Darren Keane (aged 25) of Foxdene Avenue, Clondalkin and John Boylan (aged 25) Gandon Court, Lucan pleaded not guilty to attempted robbery and possession of a sawn-off shotgun at Foxborough Road, Lucan on May 15, 2009.

Alexander Owens SC, prosecuting, told the jury it would hear evidence that two men were “tucked around the corner in a battered Ford Mondeo” at the Centra supermarket on Foxborough Road, when a cash van pulled up to refill an ATM.

Counsel said the men, Garrett Molloy and Keith Murtagh, got out of the car, armed with a gun and wearing balaclavas and gloves, and approached cash van worker Tim McDonald.

They demanded money from Mr McDonald before some of his colleagues in the back of the van threw a cash box out.

Mr Owens told the jury it was the State’s case that Mr Molloy then “discharged a shot into the air and gardaí intervened”.

He said the men were told to drop the gun but they refused to do so and shots were fired, wounding both Mr Molloy and Mr Murtagh.

Mr Owens said Mr Molloy later died from his injuries.

Counsel told the jury it was the prosecution case that the attempted robbery was “a joint enterprise” involving Mr Molloy, Mr Murtagh, brothers Derek and Gareth Hutch, Mr Keane and Mr Boylan and the roles of the accused before the court were “lookout and getaway men”.

“But whether we establish that is entirely up to you, having reviewed the evidence in the case,” Mr Owens told the jury.

Two witnesses from the mapping and photography section of the gardai presented maps and aerial photographs from the Foxborough area, photographs of the scene and photos of the cash van.

The trial, which is expected to last three weeks, continues before Judge Mary Ellen Ring and a jury of seven men and five women