A former detective garda feared for his life when an armed robber pointed a gun at him and shouted: "I'm going to kill you, I'm going to f***ing shoot you," during a raid that left his colleague dead from a gunshot wound to the head, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
Joe Ryan also described to the court the moment he realised his partner Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe had been fatally wounded: “I could see a serious wound to his face. He was lying in a pool of blood. I could see brain matter on the tarmac. I knew he was dead but I felt for a pulse anyway. But it was obvious he was dead.”
Joe Ryan on Tuesday told the trial of Aaron Brady, who denies the capital murder of Det Gda Adrian Donohoe, that he was “terrified” as he was penned into his car by two gunmen, one holding a shotgun, the other a handgun.
Mr Ryan remembered thinking to himself that he would rather be shot with the handgun as he would have a better chance of survival.
Aaron Brady (28) from New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh has pleaded not guilty to the capital murder of Det Gda Adrian Donohoe who was then a member of An Garda Síochána on active duty on January 25th, 2013 at Lordship Credit Union, Bellurgan, Co Louth.
Mr Brady has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of robbing approximately €7,000 in cash and assorted cheques on the same date and at the same location.
Mr Ryan told Brendan Grehan SC for the prosecution that he was a garda in the Dundalk area since 1992 and in 2013 it was part of the weekly duty for armed detectives to escort credit union employees around north Louth with bags of money to a safe deposit box in Dundalk.
On the night in question he was driving with Det Gda Donohoe in the passenger seat. They took over the escort at Cooley Credit Union and headed to Lordship Credit Union following a Nissan Qashqai belonging to a female credit union employee.
It was a “dark, wet and quite miserable” night, he said. Roads were flooded and some of them were difficult to pass through. There was nothing unusual about the night and he checked to see if anyone was following them but saw nobody.
They arrived at Lordship at 21.25. After waiting about five minutes the lights in the car park were switched off and a man came out of the credit union carrying a money bag and got into his car, a Nissan Micra.
As the Qashqai approached the car park exit and the other car prepared to join the convoy behind the Qashqai a car pulled up and blocked the exit. The witness said he turned to his colleague and said: “What the hell is going on here?”. Det Gda Donohoe got out of the car and there was a banging noise from behind, which he later realised must have been the windows of the car behind being smashed.
Looking to his right he saw two men approaching. They were running and shouting and the first one had a long-barrelled shotgun up to his shoulder pointing in the direction of the gardaí. He said: “I realised we were being attacked.”
He released his seatbelt and reached for his holstered handgun and realised the shotgun had been fired when he heard a loud bang and saw a flash just before his door was opened and he saw the shotgun being pointed at him. It was moving up and down, he said, pointing at his legs and body.
He assumed the shot that he heard was a warning shot and he did not see his colleague at this point, telling Mr Grehan: “All my focus was on my right hand side.” The person holding the shotgun told him: “I’m going to kill you, I’m going to f***ing shoot you,” and asked him for money and keys. The second person was holding a handgun, something like a Glock or a Sig, and pointing it at him, he said.
He told Mr Grehan: “They threatened me and they were looking for money and keys and basically saying they were going to kill me. I said, ‘I don’t have any money, don’t shoot.‘” He added that he remembered thinking: “I would prefer to be shot by the 9mm [handgun] than the shotgun. I would have a better chance of survival if I was going to be shot... I was completely terrified and in fear for my life.”
The two gunmen then ran off and got into the car parked at the exit and another man jumped over the wall. In total, he saw four raiders plus the driver of the car. Having gotten out of his car Mr Ryan drew his weapon but the raiders had left and the threat was gone.
He said: “I realised there was no immediate threat to life and decided not to discharge my firearm.” As he moved towards the Qashqai he saw Det Gda Donohoe on the ground. He said: “I could see a serious wound to his face. He was lying facing the front of the car on his back. He was lying in a pool of blood. I could see brain matter on the tarmac. I knew he was dead but I felt for a pulse anyway. But it was obvious he was dead.” He called for help on the car radio.
Judging by their build and “the way they carried themselves” he said he believed the raiders to be in their early to mid-20s. The man with the shotgun, he said, was taller and thinner than the man with the handgun, who looked more athletic.
Both men wore balaclavas and dark tracksuits. He also observed that the man with the shotgun was right handed and described him as “the main threat”. His accent, the witness said, was difficult to place. It wasn’t a strong Northern Irish accent or a Dublin accent, he said. The person holding the handgun, he said, was smaller and he estimated he was five feet seven inches tall. His accent was “more of a border accent”.
The jury was then played audio of the garda radio call and a 999 call during which Mr Ryan spoke with garda control. Under cross-examination Mr Ryan agreed with Michael O’Higgins SC for the defence that in a statement following the shooting he described the person with the shotgun as being six feet one inch tall and of slim build. He told Mr O’Higgins that he had difficulty placing the accent of the person with the shotgun as he was shouting and, he said, it’s more difficult to place an accent if someone is shouting.
In earlier evidence on Tuesday Gda Alan Lynch told Mr Grehan that he was on patrol that evening with now deceased garda Tony Golden. Earlier that evening they had provided an escort for one of the credit union employees before Det Gda Donohoe and his colleague Det Gda Joe Ryan took over.
At 21.30 a call came over the garda radio “to the effect that Gda Ryan was seeking urgent attention. You could tell from his voice that he was highly distressed. You knew something terrible had happened.” Gda Lynch and Gda Golden made their way to Lordship and set up a road block and traffic diversion about 100 yards from the scene of the shooting.
The trial continues in front of Justice Michael White and a jury of eight men and seven women.