The family of a man killed in a shooting accident last St Patrick's Day embraced the person responsible for his death after an inquest hearing in Limerick yesterday.
Darren Kiely, (30), originally from Patrickswell, Co Limerick died after suffering a fatal gunshot wound to the back of his head while out shooting rabbits.
The dead man, who was engaged to be married, was accidentally shot by his friend Michael Butler in a laneway beside a farm at Faha, Ballyhanrahan, Patrickswell.
A statement given to gardaí by Mr Butler was read out at an inquest held in Limerick yesterday where a verdict of "accidental death in accordance with medical evidence" was returned.
At the start of the inquest, the coroner Dr Tony Casey was told that a file had been sent by gardaí to the DPP on the fatal shooting but nobody had been charged.
The inquest heard that Mr Kiely asked his friend to go shooting rabbits with him in Patrickswell on March 17th last. He collected Michael Butler at around 10.40am.
Mr Butler told gardaí that as the two men were about to cross over a gateway into a field, Mr Kiely suggested they check their telescopic sights first by shooting at a tin box. Both men were lying down when they started shooting. Mr Butler noticed that the dispensed shells coming from his gun were hitting Mr Kiely and he asked him if he was okay.
"He said 'yeah', and told me to keep shooting," Mr Butler told gardaí.
According to his statement, Mr Butler then took a step back and began shooting from a standing position. He reloaded his gun twice.
"I fired at the box and then I saw Darren falling. I know I was not directly behind him," he told gardaí.
When questioned at yesterday's inquest Mr Butler said he did not know how his friend came into his line of fire.
When members of the ambulance service arrived they told Mr Butler that his friend was dead and that even though it was no consolation, they believed that the deceased "hadn't even heard the shot".
According to a postmortem carried out by the Deputy State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster, Mr Kiely died from a single gunshot wound to the back of his head which resulted in swelling of the brain and contusions.
After the inquest Darren Kiely's distraught mother and members of his family walked over to Mr Butler and embraced him.