Uncle insists he was with son at funeral when shooting broke out
The uncle of a man shot in the back at a family funeral has denied suggestions that he was not at the cemetery when gun shots broke out.
Defence counsel, Mr Fergal Kavanagh SC acting on behalf of Mr Martin "Hilter Bumbee" McDonagh snr suggested to the accused’s cousin, Mr Patrick "Jaws" Ward snr (63) that his "version of the events are totally different" to his son’s evidence last week.
"I have to suggest to you, that you were not with your son", Mr Kavanagh SC said.
"Me and my son got out of the van together," Mr "Jaws" Ward snr replied.
Five men have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Patrick "Deuce" Ward in May 1999 at Carrownanty Cemetery in Ballymote, Co Sligo.
Mr Michael "Hitler Bumbee" McDonagh snr (aged 58), Mr Martin "Bumbee" McDonagh snr (aged 53), Mr Michael McDonagh jnr (aged 29), Mr Patrick McDonagh (aged 33) and Mr Martin "Spider Bumbee" McDonagh jnr (aged 26) from Hertfordshire in London have all denied the murder of Mr Ward.
Mr "Deuce" Ward (aged 38), a father of six originally from Galway but resident in Manchester had travelled to Ireland for the funeral of his uncle, Patrick "Skillet" Ward, in Ballymote, Co Sligo on May 10 1999 when he was fatally shot at.
The five have also pleaded not guilty to the possession of a firearm with the intent to in danger life.
They also have denied the attempted murder of Mr Patrick "Jaws" Ward snr, Mr Patrick "Jaws" Ward jnr and Mr Edward "Ned" Ward on the same occasion.
The accused men also pleaded not guilty to causing violent disorder on the same date.
Mr "Jaws" Ward snr said the accused brother, Michael and Martin McDonagh snr are his first cousins.
"My mother and their father are brother and sister". "I know all my life", Mr "Jaws" Ward snr added.
On the morning of the funeral of Patrick "Skillet" Ward, Patrick "Jaws" Ward snr travelled to the cemetery in Sligo with his son and 19-year-old daughter-in-law.
Mr "Jaws" Ward snr said they were met by 80-100 members of the McDonagh family. He claims two of Michael "Hitler Bumbee" McDonagh snr’s son started throwing stones at them.
"We moved towards the crowd, I shouted to Michael saying: ‘Can I talk to you’. He ignored it. I got a blow of a stone to the right hip. I said again: ‘Michael, can I talk to you’ and he turned around and said ‘shoot them shoot them, shoot them’.
Mr "Jaws" Ward snr claims he then heard three shots: "I heard pop, pop, pop". The state witness told the jury that after he realised the guns to be "real", he told his son to run.
"Jaws" Ward snr said the "crowd broke up" with some chasing his son and the others chasing him.
The then 59-year-old told the court he was "fairly fit" and was able to run away from the alleged gunmen. He claims that Martin "Bumbee" McDonagh snr had a pick handle in his hand and his accused son, "Spider" McDonagh had a gun.
"Jaws" Ward snr told the jury that at this point, a blue Vauxhall Cavalier car reversed down the road with it’s door open. "I didn’t get into the car. I threw my body over the car and said ‘drive, drive’".
When "Jaws" Ward took his foot off the side of the passenger door, his son-in-law shouted: "Paddy’s been shot, Paddy’s been shot."
On the road outside the graveyard, "Jaws" Ward snr claims he saw the deceased collapse.
"I could see a bullet hole in his hip," he said.
"Jaws" Ward snr said after the shooting, he felt "very, very nervous". "I thought they were going to kill us. If they had have been more of them, we could have been killed".
When asked by Mr Kavanagh SC to identify areas on a map of the area where the fatal shooting occurred, Mr "Jaws" Ward snr said he was "not good at maps and for starters I cannot read or write".
The state witness said he "heard" there was a feud between the Wards and the McDonagh families in England. "I think there was a Ward killed with a knife by a cousin of the McDonagh’s. There was an argument in the pub in London."
Under cross-examination by Mr Brendan Nix, Mr "Jaws" Ward snr said he originally got the nickname "Jaws" when he was 36 years of age. "I got out my teeth when I was 36 so that had a lot to do with it," he said.
Mr Nix SC asked Mr "Jaws" Ward snr how much did he pay to "learn how to obstruct and block questioning". "It seems you and your son have been coached in it," Mr Nix suggested to the state witness.
"I’ve no education only road work. The only thing I can do is spell my name," he told Mr Nix under cross-examination.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill
