A Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury has heard that the accused in the trial told gardaí he shot and injured a man in Fairview Park in 1998, but the victim refused to talk to gardaí about the incident.
Mr Terence Dunleavy (23), of Anadale Crescent, Marino, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to assault causing serious harm to Mr Michael Martin, assault causing him harm and unlawful possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life in Fairview Park on October 10th, 1998.
Supt Frank Moore said Mr Martin told him in the Mater Hospital he had no idea what happened to him but agreed he "could have been" in Fairview Park and "could have been shot".
When asked who shot him, he replied several times he didn't know what happened to him.
Det Garda John Campbell said Mr Martin refused to discuss the matter with him when he called to the hospital on October 11th, 1998. He declined to reply to further questions and also declined to make a statement.
Det Garda Campbell said he was given Mr Martin's clothes, which were heavily bloodstained, and on April 23rd, 2001, he charged Mr Dunleavy with the counts before the court.
Both Supt Moore and Det Garda Campbell told prosecuting counsel, Mr Des Zaidan, they had followed a heavy blood trail almost 200 metres from the East Wall rail bridge to a spot in Fairview Park where there was a piece of human flesh and a lot of blood.
Earlier, Mr Zaiden told the jury it would hear that Mr Martin was approached in Fairview Park by a man armed with a shotgun. This man shot him in the left leg and fled the scene.
Mr Dunleavy was arrested on November 23rd, 1998, and made a reference to gardaí that the gun he was discovered with was the same one he used in the shooting.
Mr Zaiden told the jury that in the course of a preliminary District Court hearing in relation to this case, Mr Martin said he was aware of the charges against Mr Dunleavy but said it was not the accused who shot him and that he (the accused) was not there that night.
The trial continues.