Senior barrister Diarmuid Phelan has been found not guilty of murder. The farmer fatally shot an intruder during a confrontation on his land nearly three years ago.
56-year-old law professor Phelan was today acquitted of murdering Keith Conlon in a shooting on his farm land in Dublin.
The jury delivered its verdict at the Central Criminal Court this afternoon, after just over seven hours of deliberations amid a ten-week trial.
Mr Phelan did not react as the verdict was read out.
He had denied murdering 35-year-old Conlon, who was unarmed when he shot him in the back of the head with a revolver at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght on February 22, 2022.
The father-of-four died in hospital two days later. Mr Conlon had been in a group of trespassers hunting foxes or badgers on Mr Phelan’s farm when he killed a dog that was with them and a “heated exchange” ensued.
Mr Phelan maintained he felt under threat and was acting in legitimate self-defence when he fired three warning shots in the air. He did not intend to hit Mr Conlon and the third shot struck him accidentally, the defence said.
The prosecution’s case had been that Mr Phelan intended to kill Mr Conlon or cause him serious injury when he shot him, and his use of force was not lawful.
