THE TRIAL of a Dublin man charged with murdering one of his best friends in Blanchardstown five years ago has heard that a mobile phone linked with him was used in the Blanchardstown area on the night of the killing.
Dara McCormack (22) was shot in the back near his home at Whitestown Park, Hartstown, in Blanchardstown, some time after 9pm on that day.
Aidan Finnegan (30), of Whitestown Avenue, Hartstown, in Blanchardstown, has denied murdering Mr McCormack. The court has heard the two grew up together and were like brothers.
The Central Criminal Court heard that calls were made from one of five mobile phone numbers linked to Aidan Finnegan between 9.08pm and 10.23pm in the Blanchardstown area on February 11th, 2006.
Eye witnesses reported seeing two men wearing dark clothes and balaclavas standing over Dara McCormack as he lay on the ground trying to defend himself.
One witness saw an object she thought was a bicycle pump protruding from one of the men’s jacket sleeves, and then heard a loud bang.
She and several neighbours ran to Mr McCormack’s assistance. He told them he had been shot and asked them to find his father.
His father, Thomas McCormack, who is one of the main prosecution witnesses, had told the court in his evidence that his son said “Aidan” had shot him, as he lay dying in his arms.
He asked Dara: “Aidan Finnegan f**king shot you?” and said his son replied: “Yes da, Aidan.”
Another witness, Stephen Kavanagh, told the trial Mr Finnegan rang him on the evening in question, asking him to set up a meeting with Dara at the Whitestown estate. Mr Kavanagh said Mr Finnegan told him he “wanted his money from Dara”. The witness then rang Dara saying Mr Finnegan wanted to see him, and Dara replied “okay”.
A former Meteor telecommunications expert Keith Lynch told the jury several calls were made from an 085 number associated with Mr Finnegan on the evening of the shooting, a number of which were recorded on the mobile phone mast at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.
Between 10.28pm and 5.53am, calls were made from a second 085 number associated with Mr Finnegan, beginning in Blanchardstown, moving into Dublin city centre and back to Blanchardstown.
Evidence focusing on Dara McCormack’s mobile phone showed that he texted a number of people in the lead-up to his death, asking for a loan of money.
In a number of the messages he said: “They’ll shoot me . . . I’m a dead man” and “I’m going to get a bullet” if he didn’t have the money.
He also texted his older sister asking for €200 on the evening of his death saying it was “serious”.
Mr Finnegan’s sister, Debra Finnegan, said Aidan and a second man called to her home at Mulhuddart Woods that evening, and they sat talking in her living room.
Senior counsel Bernard Condon for the prosecution asked Ms Finnegan whether Aidan had “asked you to say something for him” during their conversation.
“We just talked,” Ms Finnegan replied. Mr Condon asked repeatedly whether Aidan had said where he had been earlier in the night. Ms Finnegan consistently replied that she couldn’t remember, but thought he had said he was out with friends.
The case continues today before Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan.