Diarmuid Phelan has been found not guilty of the murder of Keith Conlon on February 24th 2022, which took place at Phelan’s Hazlegrove farm in Tallaght.
This afternoon, the jury delivered the verdict for the former senior counsel and law professor of Trinity – allowing him to walk away free from the Central Criminal Court.
During the course of the trial, it was made clear that Phelan did shoot Conlon. However, Phelan’s legal defence stated that the shooting of Conlon was an act of “self defence”.
Phelan’s defence also claimed that there was a history of illegal activity on the professor’s farm, which may have added to his “vulnerability”.
A father of four, Keith Conlon was pronounced brain dead at Tallaght Hospital, two days after he was shot at the farm.
The jury deliberated for seven hours to reach their verdict. The trial lasted ten weeks.
A legal professional spoke to The University Times about the case on condition of anonymity, stating “There’s been a few trespass shootings and they seem very hard to get a murder verdict in […] There’s a constitutional right against trespass which is one of the strongest constitutional protections.”
