Man charged with Geoghegan murder 'made admissions to gardaí', court hears

He has pleaded not guilty to murdering the 28-year-old on November 9, 2008 at Clonmore, Kilteragh, Dooradoyle.

Tom O’Connell SC, prosecuting, said that the Garryowen player was killed in a case of mistaken identity, but that this was immaterial and "neither here nor there".

“The State says that Barry Doyle saw a human being in front of him,” he said. “He fired bullets into his body, intending to kill him or, at the very least, cause massive injury.”

“If you come to the conclusion that Barry Doyle did that to Shane Geoghegan, then that is murder,” he added.

He said that Mr Geoghegan had captained Garryowen in a match on Saturday November 8 that year. Afterwards he watched another match in the house of a friend, who lived across a green area from the home Mr Geoghegan shared with his girlfriend.

“As he was making his way back to his own house, he was attacked by a gunman,” explained Mr O’Connell.

He said several people heard shots and screaming and saw the getaway car.

Gardaí were called at 1.06am and arrived to see a shattered window in the house directly across the road from Mr Geoghegan’s. Gardaí went around the back of this house and found Mr Geoghegan lying dead of the door step, explained Mr O’Connell.

He said that a post-mortem exam showed that the victim died from gunshot injuries to his head and trunk. He suffered five gunshots in total; one of the head wounds would have been instantly fatal. He had internal injuries to his brain, right lung, ribs and pelvis, he added.

The jury heard that three bullets were recovered from Mr Geoghegan’s body and a number of discharged and un-discharged cartridge cases were found at the crime scene. Ballistics experts concluded that a 9mm semi-automatic Glock was used.

Their pattern indicated that the shooter was moving towards Mr Geoghegan as he was firing the gun. The Glock was never recovered, he said.

Mr O’Connell said that the accused came from Dublin, but had been living in Limerick since June 2008. He left the city shortly after the murder and went to Turkey, but returned shortly before Christmas that year. He was arrested in February 2009 and ultimately charged with Mr Geoghegan’s murder, he said.

He said that in his 15th garda interview and after a private consultation with his solicitor, Mr Doyle made admissions to the Gardaí about his involvement in the killing.

“He admitted shooting Shane Geoghegan,” he said. Mr Doyle also said he had never met Mr Geoghegan before, who he described as an innocent man.

“All the evidence suggests that Mr Doyle was part of a joint enterprise,” said Mr O’Connell. However Mr Doyle did not name anyone else involved.

Mr Geoghegan’s girlfriend, Jenna Barry, gave evidence of last seeing her boyfriend in the house where he was watching the match about two hours before he died. She then visited his mother before going home and putting on a DVD.

She received a text message from Mr Geoghegan just before 1am on the 9th, and was expecting him home shortly afterwards. She then heard two loud bangs, which reminded her of fireworks. Their two dogs began barking so she looked out the front door.

“I saw a person running down the middle of the road to a navy people carrier,” she recalled. “The wheels were turning and screeching and someone was shouting: ‘Drive, drive’.”

She said the engine was running, the sliding door was open and the man, who was running, got into the passenger side before the car drove off.

“After I saw and heard that, it all seemed a bit odd to be honest. I came in and rang 999 and said I thought there’d been a shooting,” she continued. “I sent Shane a text message saying: ‘I think there’s been a shooting’. I tried to ring him as well but there was no answer.”

A jury of nine men and three women was sworn in to hear the trial, which is expected to last another three weeks.

However, Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan reluctantly discharged one of the male jurors yesterday, after he was offered a new job.