Diarmuid Phelan has been found NOT GUILTY of murdering a trespasser on his farm.Mr Phelan, a barrister and Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin, accepted he shot Keith Conlon but insisted he was acting in self-defence when he did so.
The jury began its deliberations on NYE and after just over seven hours considering the evidence, Diarmuid Phelan was today acquitted of Keith Conlon’s murder.
Mr Conlon and two others were trespassers on Mr Phelan’s farm in Tallaght on the 22nd of February 2022. They were engaged in illegal hunting. Fearing for his livestock, Mr Phelan shot dead one of their dogs with a rifle. That led to a heated row which resulted in him firing three warning shots with a handgun.
The third shot hit Mr Conlon in the back of the head. It was the prosecution’s case that he intended to kill, or at least cause serious harm, when he fired the final shot. Mr Phelan claimed it was unintentional and that he was acting in self-defence. After being acquitted by unanimous verdict, the judge then turned to Mr Phelan and told him he was “free to go.”
