Five men charged with the murder of crime boss Kieran Keane must stand trial in Limerick, a judge has ruled.
Mr Justice Carney made the order at the Central Criminal Court in Limerick yesterday as he set a date for the trial.
Appearing before Mr Justice Carney were Mr James McCarthy (24) and Mr David Stanners (31), both of Pineview Gardens, Moyross; Mr Christopher Costelloe (20), Moylish Avenue, Ballynanty; Mr Anthony McCarthy (21), The Fairgreen; and Mr Dessie Dundon (20), Hyde Road, all in Limerick.
They are charged with the murder of Kieran Keane (36), at Drombana on January 29th last. They are also charged with the attempted murder of Mr Keane's nephew, Mr Owen Treacy.
Denying a defence counsel application to have the trial moved to Dublin, Mr Justice Carney said: "To transfer the trial out of Limerick would mean stripping Limerick of policemen and that is the reason why I am here." A 28-page statement provided to gardaí by Owen Treacy would be central to the prosecution case, the court heard.
The court also heard that the State would allege that Kieran Keane and Owen Treacy were lured to a house in The Fairgreen area of Limerick on a "pretext" before they were hooded and driven to another house where they were detained and later transferred into a van. It would also be alleged that one of the five accused shot Mr Keane and repeatedly stabbed Mr Treacy at Drombana.
Mr Treacy pretended he was dead and after his abductors had fled, he managed to raise the alarm, the court heard.
Objecting to a bail application, Garda Det Insp Bob Noonan said the murder of Kieran Keane had led to "a serious escalation of an ongoing feud in Limerick".
Mr Justice Carney refused bail to four of the five accused and fixed Tuesday, October 21st, as the date for the start of the trial.