A man who died on a farm in Dublin was shot while “in the process of running away,” a witness has told the Central Criminal Court. 

Diarmuid Phelan, who is also a Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin, denies murdering Keith Conlon, claiming he was acting in self-defence when he shot him in 2022.

Hannah Felgner was just 19-years-old when she travelled from Germany to work on Mr Phelan’s farm in Tallaght.

The shooting took place just two days after her arrival.

She told the jury about a verbal altercation on the farm between Mr Phelan and two other men, whom she described as being “very upset.”

She said they were screaming and yelling at Mr Phelan who repeatedly told them to keep their distance. When they did not, she said he shot into the air with a small gun.

She said the men then immediately turned and started running away and a few seconds after that, she said Mr Phelan shot one of them into the back.

She said it was a complete surprise to her and at no point did she think it would turn into a physical confrontation.

One of the defence barristers suggested she was mistaken about the shot being fired while the men were running away and he questioned why she did not mention that at the time but she insisted she was giving an honest account of what she saw.

Main image:  The Criminal Courts of Justice. Picture by: Alamy.com