Operation of 'crow banger' explained as evidence closes in Kerry farmer teleporter murder trial

A crow banger, a red and blue funnel type object which was at the centre of issues between Mr O’Mahony and neighbours, was brought into the court and put up on the witness stand while a Garda witness explained its operation to the jury.

Operation of 'crow banger' explained as evidence closes in Kerry farmer teleporter murder trial

By Anne Lucey

The evidence has finished in the trial of a 63-year-old north Kerry dairy farmer accused of the murder of a neighbouring tillage farmer.

The trial, which is in its second week, has heard of ”catastrophic injuries” to the heart and liver inflicted by the prongs of a teleporter on tillage farmer John Anthony O'Mahony (aged 73).

The late Mr O’Mahony was in the driver’s seat of his car at around 8am on April 4, 2017, on the narrow road to Rattoo, near Ballyduff.

His car was lifted “clear of the ground” by a New Holland teleporter, a heavy industrial machine, the trial has heard.

The forks of the boom of the teleporter had slid along and pierced the roof of the Peugeot car “like you’d open a can of beans,” garda expert witness James O’Brien has said.

Michael Ferris of Rattoo, denies murder.

In interviews with gardaí on the morning of the incident, the jury was told Mr Ferris said he had blocked the road with his teleporter; he agreed he had driven the forks onto the car; he also said: “It was about the crow banger”. This had been an issue for 30 years, he told gardaí in Listowel, in memos read to the court.

Mr Ferris had said in the interviews with the gardaí the crow banger, used by the late Anthony O’Mahony on his 100 acres of wheat and other crops in Rattoo, would “wake the dead”.

The crow banger, a red and blue funnel type object which was at the centre of issues between Mr O’Mahony and neighbours, was brought into the court and put up on the witness stand while a Garda witness explained its operation to the jury.

Belgian made, the crow banger was about 20 years old and gas-operated. A red muzzle 26 inches long was fitted to a blue metal unit and the entire unit was 50 inches.

It was in good condition, Garda O’Brien said. It operated like a cigarette lighter and gas and noise were “directed out through the barrel or nozzle”.

The “ferocity” or fixed noise level were not adjustable, but the frequency was, the PSV inspector said.

Where the crow banger was placed and in which direction its nozzle faced was also of significance. In a field, noise which moved in waves would be absorbed.

But if it were against the walls, it ”reverberates”, the garda said – and if the barrel pointed at the wall, then it would be more intense again, he told Mr Grehan.

“If you fire a shotgun you only get the loud bang, not the percussion. This machine not only creates a loud bang, it pushes air in front of it.”

The PSV expert told how he had carried out a number of “ comparison tests” between a standard shotgun and the crow banger. The manufacturer’s instructions said the unit operated at 92 decibels and over an area the size of two football fields.

But at close range of 1 metre or so the sound level from the crow banger was 118 decibels – louder than the shotgun’s 113 decibels. At a 50 metre distance, the crow banger and shotgun were similar, at 97 and 98 respectively, the PSV inspector found.

It was designed for the middle of a field, he felt.

The banger in question was set at one-minute intervals, Garda O’Brien said indicating the setting device to the jury. It had been located by gardaí in a shed on the deceased’s lands, near the home of neighbours the Walshes, Garda O’Brien said.

Mr Grehan asked if he had worn ”ear protectors” when carrying out the tests, and the garda said he had.

It was “a very disturbing noise", Garda O’Brien also agreed.

Re-examining, Patrick McGrath put it to Garda O’Brien that Ferris’ dwelling was 300 metres away. From the shed and if it was that distance away it would be in operational range of manufacturer’s specifications, Garda O’Brien said.

It would “still be an intrusive noise” because of its regular recurrence – but would be much less intrusive than in a neighbour's house (that of the Walsh family), which the trial was told was 100 metres from the crow banger.

Witness Mairead Walsh, a neighbour of Michael Ferris, recalled at the request of the defence, described how more traditional methods were now being used to deter birds in Rattoo.

Scarecrows, kites and hawks were being used to keep away the birds, but “no crow bangers” she told Brendan Grehan SC for the defence. Ms Walsh also told how, on one occasion her children had been jumping on the straw bales on the land of the deceased behind her home, and Michael Ferris had rung her and told her to get them out of there in case Mr O’Mahony saw them.

“Since this incident has any crow banger been used?” and she replied it had not.

Patrick Walsh had timed the banger and found it was going off every 4 minutes and 26 seconds. They needed ear protection, Mr Walsh said. He described the noise and the echo from the banger which had been placed alongside the shed near his house as “horrendous”.

The jury was told to that Michael Ferris had no previous convictions.

It was also told of incidents in which the deceased had appeared in court in connection with shotgun allegations. In 1993 he had shot at pheasant hunters - members of Ballyduff gun club - who strayed onto his lands without permission. John McNamara, of Killarda, Lisselton, who was called by the defence, said there had been no warning and pellets came through the hedge and struck the head of his fellow hunter and gun club member John O’Connor.

The court also heard of an incident in 1993 where two social welfare officers who called to the Rattoo lands were threatened by the deceased. He apologised in court for this and no conviction was recorded.

Meanwhile, Det Garda Paul Walsh said the shotgun recovered from the boot of the late Mr Mahony’s car on the morning of April 4, 2017, was not licensed. A licence would have been objected to, the garda said.

Closing speeches are expected tomorrow.

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