Local solicitor speaks at funeral murder trial
The trial of a Traveller shot at the funeral of his uncle has heard that a gunman attempted to kill another member of the Ward family on the same day.
The former state solicitor for Sligo, Mr Thomas Tigue, has told the jury that a gunman allegedly stopped outside his gate and pointed a gun at a "Ward man and himself".
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 Sr (aged 58), Mr Martin "Bumbee" McDonagh Sr (aged 53), Mr Michael McDonagh Jr (aged 29), Mr Patrick McDonagh (aged 33) and Mr Martin "Spider Bumbee" McDonagh Jr (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, also Patrick Ward, in Ballymote, Co Sligo on May 10 1999, when he was fatally shot.
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 Sr, Mr Patrick "Jaws" Ward Jr 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 Tigue said that he was at the rear of his house across from Carrownanty Cemetery on the day of the fatal shooting.
Mr Tigue was in the central heating house at the back of his house when he came out and saw a man running towards him in "a crouched position" in his neighbour’s garden.
"I heard a commotion on the road. I heard cracks. It sounded like three gun shots. It wasn’t that loud.
"Then I heard the sound of stampeding feet down the road," Mr Tigue told the jury.
Mr Tigue said he saw a crowd of 14 to 15 youths running down the road aged between 18 and 25 years of age. He said they were gathering outside the cemetery.
"As the group passed, one man peeled away from the group and came into my driveway. I saw that he was being followed by a man carrying a gun. He was running also," Mr Tigue said.
This man later told Mr Tigue that his name was Ward. The former state solicitor for Sligo said the Ward man was well-built, fair, wearing a navy blue anorak and aged 23 or 24 years of age.
"He shouted: 'Let me in. Let me in,' and then he started shouting about a gun," Mr Tigue said.
"I declined to let him in," he said.
"He was carrying a hedging knife used for cutting hedges in his hand. He asked again: ‘Let me in. Let me in.’ I said no," Mr Tigue said.
"Then he asked me did I have a gun," he said.
The gunman, Mr Tigue said, was aged 24 or 25 years of age, was well-built and had close cropped hair. Mr Tigue told the jury he thought the handgun was a "German Luber hand gun with a thin barrel and a calibre of about .22".
The gunman was standing about 30 to 40 yards away from Mr Tigue and the Ward man. The gunman had been running after the group of people, Mr Tigue said, but when the Ward man "peeled off" from the group, he stopped in Mr Tigue’s driveway.
"He loosed off a few shots indiscriminately before he stopped," Mr Tigue said.
At this stage the Ward man was standing a foot in front of Mr Tigue outside his front porch. "The gunman stopped in his tracks at the gate when he saw the chap at my porch. He pointed the gun at myself and the Ward man".
The Ward man then made a flying leap at my front door and broke it in," he said. Mr Tigue said the door was a solid mahogony door, yet the Ward man managed to break the frame and gain entry to his house.
After the Ward man ran upstairs, Mr Tigue stayed outside until the gunman had run away down the road in the Tubbercurry direction.
When Mr Tigue went into his house he heard the Ward man upstairs going from room to room. "He said he was looking for a gun."
"When he came back down, he was still asking for a gun. He said: 'All houses like this have guns.' I repeated that I didn’t have a gun," Mr Tigue said.
A young woman then joined the Ward man, Mr Tigue said. The pair, he said, promised to come back in a few days to pay for the damage done to the door.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill.
