Man pleads guilty to gun murder of veteran criminal Eamon Kelly
A Dublin man has pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to the murder of veteran criminal Eamon Kelly in Killester two-and-a-half years ago.
Sean Connolly (35), of Bernard Curtis House, Bluebell, had been charged at a special sitting of the non-jury court with the murder of Mr Kelly at Furry Park Road, Killester on Dublin’s north-side, on December 4th, 2012.
Connolly had also been charged with IRA membership and with possession of a firearm on the same occasion.
His trial on all three counts was due to commence this morning in the three-judge court. However, Connolly pleaded guilty to the murder of Mr Kelly on his arraignment and the court was told that the remaining two counts would proceed no further.
Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Paul Greene SC, told the court that there were three counts on the indictment and a response to the count of murder was "likely".
Connolly's barrister, Paul Burns SC, confirmed that his client “may be arraigned” on the count of murder.
When asked by the registrar of the Special Criminal Court to stand up, Connolly made no reaction. The registrar asked if he was Sean Connolly, to which he said “yeah”.
When asked how he would plead to count 1 – that on December 4 2012 in Killester in Dublin, he murdered Eamon Kelly – Connolly said “guilty”. Mr Greene told the court that a nolle prosequi – a decision not to proceed – would be entered on the outstanding counts.
A Victim Impact Report was being prepared, Mr Greene said, and a date of Friday May 1 next was set for the court to convene again.
The trial, which was expected to last three weeks, was due to be heard before Mr Justice Paul Butler, Judge Alison Lindsay and Judge Flann Brennan.
There was a large garda presence in court with senior officers, detectives and uniformed gardaí in attendance.
A man who agreed to transport almost a kilogramme of cocaine to Cork has been jailed for three years along with an accomplice who had been holding the drugs for two days.
William O’Shea (30) of Dunmore Gardens, Knocknaheeney in Cork and Mark Hayden (43) of the North Circular Road, Dublin both pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of cocaine for sale or supply on April 6, 2014.
O’Shea has no previous convictions, while Hayden has one for a public order offence.
Judge Martin Nolan accepted that both men had a good work history and work ethic, had co-operated with the gardaí and had made admissions.
He said the men “committed a misjudgement” and involved themselves in a reasonably large amount of cocaine for their “own particular reasons” before he jailed them for three years.
Detective Garda Val Russell told Cathleen Noctor BL, prosecuting that gardaí had the Skylon Hotel, in Dublin under surveillance following a tip off. They saw O’Shea leave and get into a car Hayden had pulled up in.
O’Shea then got out of the vehicle carrying a bag he had not had earlier and returned to the hotel.
Gardaí moved in and searched Hayden, O’Shea and the vehicle. The cocaine, worth €68,740, was found in the bag O’Shea had with him, while nothing was found in the car.
Both were arrested and Hayden later told gardaí he had been in a pub when “a fella” asked him if he would collect a package and deliver it for €1,000. He said he was to get a phone call to pick it up and a call to tell him where and when to drop it.
He acknowledged that he knew it would be illegal and said that he had collected the drugs two days previously.
O’Shea told gardaí he had been in Dublin at a concert when he got a call asking him if he would collect something and bring it back to Cork. He said he knew it was drugs and he had a recollection of being told it was “a box of coke”.
O’Shea said he was told he would be “sorted” for his role. He had an outstanding loan of €1,400 and he agreed to do it. He said he was too afraid for his family to name anyone else involved.
Det Gda Russell agreed with Tara Burns SC, defending Hayden, that he told gardaí he had fallen behind in rent and owed money to loan sharks due to his gambling and alcohol addictions.
He agreed he was co-operative and accepted responsibility for the drugs.
Det Gda Russell agreed with Caroline Biggs SC, defending O’Shea, that he had no history of drug dealing and had never been involved in distribution prior to this.
He accepted that O’Shea was not the target of the operation and in his experience his involvement in the operation was unusual.
Det Gda Russell further accepted that O’Shea was unlikely to re-offend and his involvement had “a catastrophic impact on him and his family”.
GARDAI fear there will be an outbreak of violence in Limerick after a member of the Keane clan was involved in a punch-up at a dole office with mobster Kurt Ryan.
Owen Treacy Jnr – a grand nephew of Christy Keane – was attacked on Tuesday outside a social welfare office in the city centre by baby-faced thug Ryan.
The pair were involved in a vicious brawl in front of shocked onlookers which spilled out on to the street.
Gun criminal Ryan has close links to a Moyross-based gang run by associates of jailed heroin dealer ‘Fat’ John McCarthy.
This same gang are believed to be behind an assassination attempt on Treacy Jnr in January. The 21-year-old was lucky to escape with his life when gunmen targeted a car he was in at Thomond Bridge. Christy Keane’s son, Joe Keane, was also in the car. Previously, on January 2, Treacy Jnr also escaped when a gunman opened fire at him in the King’s Island area of the city.
Two days beforehand, he received slash wounds to the face and a broken nose when he was attacked in Cruises Street.
Treacy Jnr has no major criminal convictions and may have been targeted because his father gave evidence in a high-profile criminal trial.
Owen Treacy Snr was abducted with his cousin Kieran Keane in February 2003. Keane was murdered, but Treacy Snr survived and his evidence led to five members of the McCarthy-Dundon gang being jailed for life.
A source said that following the savage brawl Treacy Jnr and Ryan exchanged insults on Facebook. “Both men went on to Facebook to claim victory, though neither man was seriously hurt. Owen Treacy posted a selfie to show his ear hadn’t been bitten off,”
Despite the demise of the Dundon brothers, gardai still fear that there could be an outbreak of violence in the city.
The Moyross-based gang – who were once aligned to the Dundon brothers – and comprises of associates of ‘Fat’ John McCarthy and criminal brothers, Eddie and Kieran Ryan, have vowed to wipe out the Keane gang.
Kurt Ryan, who is aligned to the gang, is regarded as one of the most erratic criminals operating in Limerick. In 2011, he was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to unlawful possession of a 9mm modified semi-automatic pistol.
