Murder trial jury listen to 999 call in which Keith Conlon says he 'got shot at'

The jury in a law professor’s murder trial have listened to a 999 call in which, moments after he was hit by a revolver bullet, the deceased told a dispatcher that he had "got shot at".

Some members of the deceased’s family left the courtroom in tears when the emergency service calls were played to the 12 jurors on Friday.

The jurors also listened to a separate 999 recording made by the accused moments before the fatal shooting, where he says that there are Travellers on his farmland and that they had "a violent situation here, we need urgent help".

The jury have already been told that none of the three trespassers were members of the Travelling Community.

Diarmuid Phelan (56), with an address at Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, Dublin 24, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Keith Conlon (36) at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, on February 24th, 2022.

The prosecution played the first of three 999 calls made by Mr Phelan at 1:05pm on February 22nd, which lasted two minutes and 48 seconds.

On the call, Mr Phelan can be heard saying "hello, we need the guards" and when the operator asks where, he says "Garda in Dublin quickly".

Mr Phelan can be heard telling the dispatcher that "we have intruders on the farm" and gives his address in Tallaght along with the Eircode.

When asked by the dispatcher what had happened, Mr Phelan replied: "They're Travellers.....there was a loose dog, we didn't know they were there, we shot the dog and now they're very agitated".

The accused continues: "They're hiding in the woods and they're roaring and shouting. We're sheep farmers".

The accused man identified himself to the dispatcher saying: "We have a violent situation here, we need urgent help".

Asked by the dispatcher "how many there are", the accused said "we saw three....they coming out here now, they're coming out here now". Mr Phelan told the operator that the ambulance "can come up through Mount Seskin entrance".

The accused man can be heard shouting on the call "the guards are coming now.... you can talk to them".

Mr Phelan also can be heard saying "just keep your distance please" and then shouting "go back down" before the call ends.

The second 999 call was made by agricultural worker Hannah Felgner at 1:09pm and lasted nine minutes and 18 seconds. Ms Felgner asks for an ambulance, says she is on a farm and gives the address as Tallaght near Dublin.

Ms Felgner says: "I'm sorry, someone shot a man, the farmer of the farm".

Asked what happened by the dispatcher, Ms Felgner said: "They were approaching..the farmer shout at them to get back. He said keep their distance, but they didn't".

"He's lying on the ground," she continues.

Asked by the dispatcher whether "the farmer was gone", Ms Felgner said: "I'm living with him, I didn't know he would do that".

Ms Felgner is told by the dispatcher to "get beside the patient".

When asked is she beside "the gentleman who shot", Ms Felgner says "yes I am".

Asked is he awake, she says "yes".

The dispatcher says "is there anyone else there who can understand me".

A man can then be heard coming on the call saying "I'm 35, I got shot at".

Some members of Mr Conlon's family left the courtroom in tears when the 999 calls were played to the 12 jurors.

During the call, which lasts more than nine minutes, the call taker can be heard giving Ms Felgner advice on how to administer first aid.

The operator asks "whereabouts is he shot" and Ms Felgner replies "not in head, in chest".

Opening the prosecution’s case on Wednesday, Roisin Lacey SC, said the jury will hear evidence that on the day in question three men including Mr Conlon had trespassed on Mr Phelan's land while hunting foxes or badgers.

Ms Lacey said that Mr Phelan told gardaí he became concerned about a dog running loose on his land towards his sheep and shot it with his Winchester rifle, whereupon he said three men immediately "exploded" from the wooded area and began threatening him.

The 12 jurors were also told by the State on Tuesday that Mr Phelan said he was shaking with fear and "scrambled" up a bank to get away but when the deceased man, Keith Conlon and a second man kept coming he believed they were "coming to fulfil the threats they had made".

As they got closer, Mr Phelan said he reached for his Smith & Wesson revolver in his pocket and fired in the air over their heads but was "stunned when one man went down", the court has heard.

Ms Lacey said she expects the defence case to be that the accused was entitled to discharge the firearm in a legitimate act of self defence. They will say that it was not done with the intention of causing the bullet to penetrate Mr Conlon's body and that the penetration was an accidental, unintended result, she stated.

Mr Conlon, from Kiltalown Park in Tallaght, was seriously injured in the shooting incident on February 22nd and died at Tallaght University Hospital two days later.

The State's case, Ms Lacey highlighted, is that when the third shot was fired, the gun was pointed in the direction of the deceased who was shot in the back of the head when he had turned away to leave. "In those circumstances we say the accused intended to kill or cause serious injury," counsel said.

The trial continues on Friday afternoon before Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford and a jury of nine men and three women.