Court hears how McNally hit traveller 'like a badger'

The prosecution in the trial of a Co Mayo farmer who has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of a traveller more than two years ago, has claimed he hit the deceased like a badger, before shooting him as he tried to limp away.

The prosecution in the trial of a Co Mayo farmer who has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of a traveller more than two years ago, has claimed he hit the deceased like a badger, before shooting him as he tried to limp away.

Padráig Nally (aged 62) of Funshinaugh Cross, Claremorris pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin to the unlawful killing of father of eleven John 'Frog' Ward after he entered his land on October 14th 2004.

The 42-year-old from Carrowbone Halting Site on the outskirts of Galway city had been shot twice and beaten with a stick.

A jury of eight men and four women was sworn in to hear the case, which opened before Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins today.

Opening the case for the prosecution Mr Paul O’Higgins SC said the incident had occurred near the small village of Cross in Co Mayo, somewhere between Ballinrobe and Headford.

There he said the accused Padráig Nally worked as a small farmer. On October 14th 2004 he said the accused was having a cup of tea or some lunch in his kitchen when he said he heard a car revving outside his house.

He said it was about 2pm in the afternoon and Mr Nally walked out of his front door, which he didn’t use very often, to find a car, which had reversed into the driveway of his farmyard.

There, he said the jury would hear evidence that Mr Nally met a man called Tom Ward, and he asked “words to the effect of where was the other fellow, believing Tom Ward was not likely to be on his own".

He was told this other man was round the back “having a look”. At this point, Mr O’Higgins said: “Mr Nally said words to the effect that he would not be coming out again.”

He said Mr Nally walked round past the shed towards the back of his house. He told the jury: “Once he goes round that corner, really so far as human evidence is concerned, that is Mr Nally’s alone. Tom Ward couldn’t see him once he went round the corner.”

He said John Ward appears to have been seen near the back door of the Nally house and it was a matter for the jury to determine, in the long run, whether he was inside it our outside it.

He said jury members would hear of the suspicion of Padráig Nally that the deceased was “up to no good” and was there to commit burglary or steal from some part of the farmyard.

He said Mr Nally got a shotgun, which he kept in a shed, and approached John Ward and levelled it at him. The shot went through his right hand and came across into his right hip and buttock. He said John Ward was on the ground kicking towards Mr Nally’s genitals.

The accused then got a stick about two feet long and two inches in diameter. “He then beat John Ward black and blue.”

He said there were 8 full lacerations to Mr Ward’s skull, exposing the underlying bone. He said there were more than 25 bruises to his body and his nose was broken.

There was a break to his left forearm, suggestive of a defensive type injury. He said Mr Nally had described the beating as “like hitting a badger or a stone. You could hit him but you could not kill him.”

He said Mr Ward was lying in a bed of nettles and had begun to attempt to stumble out of the yard when Mr Nally went back into his shed, got the shotgun and three more cartridges.

By this time the deceased was either out on the roadway or stumbling or limping towards it and had turned right onto the road when Mr Nally followed him and shot him again.

The second shot went through his left arm, back out and through the left hand side of his chest into his lungs, almost immediately killing him.

He said Mr Nally then took John Ward’s body and heaved it over a wall, before driving to a neighbour’s house where the gardaí were called.

Mr O’Higgins said it was the prosecution’s case “that the killing in these circumstances was not and could not be a lawful killing".

He added: “There is not a death penalty for burglary in this country.”

Ahead of yesterday’s trial Mr Justice Paul Carney warned members of the jury panel that there had been a high level of publicity surrounding the case.

He said: “This case has engendered a great deal of publicity, perhaps more than any other in the history of this court. It has also engendered extremely strong feelings.”

However he said the jury must try the case “strictly on the basis of the evidence adduced and the trial judge’s directions of law".

He added: “Anybody serving is warranting that he or she can do that without any prejudice towards the Travelling or farming community.”

The case has been adjourned and will continue on Tuesday. It is expected to run into next week.

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