The jury in the trial of an ex-soldier accused of murdering a Kerry pensioner has been asked to look at level of intoxication in the case.
67-year-old Thomas Carroll, with an address at Brookway, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, is before at Limerick Central Criminal Court.
He is accused of murdering 84-year-old Patrick Paddy O’Mahony in February 2024 at Ballyreameen, near Castlemaine.
Defence arguments are being heard in the trial before Mr Justice Patrick McGrath.
Mr Carroll is represented by senior defence counsel Mark Nicholas, instructed by solicitor John Cashell.
Addressing the jury of eight men and four women, Mr Nicholas described the prosecutions assessment of the case, as knee-jerk justice.
He says the state’s case is that Thomas Carroll shot Paddy O’Mahony and lied deliberately in a self-serving way, until CCTV footage was produced.
Mr Nicholas told the jury that sympathy and emotion must be put aside and to be measured and analytical in reviewing all of the evidence, and not be driven by flourish.
He detailed the presumption of innocence, burden of proof and standard of proof, before outlining examples of how a small amount of drink can alter the brain's function.
Mr Nicholas stated CCTV footage and evidence shows the level of alcohol consumption across the weekend of February 24th, 2024.
He said this started on the Friday, before topping up on Saturday, where Paddy O’Mahony told a barman that the friends had “a feed of drink the night before”.
The jury was told more alcohol was consumed and purchased across the following hours, and it was evident the following morning, when empty bottles were beside four loaded guns on Mr O’Mahony's kitchen table.
Mr Nicholas stated this was no ordinary home, as you could pick up a gun there quicker than a newspaper.
The defence barrister said that when Thomas Carroll was shown the CCTV footage by gardaí, he was reacting to what he saw for the first time, stating "Jesus Christ, that’s vicious, f****** unreal, I’ve no recollection of that, I can’t fathom it".
He said while Thomas Carroll accepts he fired the gun, the jury can not assume it was the accused who got the gun from the armoury, loaded it, or cocked it, adding it’s important that magazine was in the gun already.
He told the jury that the prosecution has to prove Mr Carroll was not intoxicated to a state that he was not aware of what he was doing, adding, if there’s a reasonable doubt of this, then the charge is manslaughter and not murder.
Mr Nicholas stated that the jury must also be satisfied that if Mr Carroll lied, they have to be satisfied that it’s being used to cover up the offence of murder.
The trial continues before Limerick Central Criminal Court.
