A Limerick jury in the trial of a man charged with threatening to kill a 19-year-old barman had to be discharged after a son of one of the jurors was contacted by someone connected to the trial, it has emerged.
Wayne Dundon (27), Lenihan Avenue, Prospect, Limerick was convicted on Thursday evening at Limerick Circuit Court, of threatening to kill Ryan Lee at Brannigan's Pub, Mulgrave Street, Limerick on December 19th last.
The 19-year-old barman was injured after he was shot twice in the knee and groin area later that night. However, no one has been charged with the shooting.
A jury sworn in for Dundon's trial - which was due to begin last Tuesday - had to be discharged later that day after it emerged that a juror received a phone call from his son saying he had been contacted by someone "connected to the trial" informing him that his father was on the jury.
Garda Deirdre O'Loughlin told Judge Carroll Moran that she had been approached by the juror 20 minutes before the trial was due to begin and that he had expressed concern about two phone calls he had received.
When Judge Moran asked the juror to explain what had taken place, he said he had received two phone calls, one from his son and another from his son's girlfriend, saying they had been contacted by someone "in the body of the courtroom" who informed them that he had been selected for the jury.
Judge Moran asked the juror if he would be happy to stay on the jury, to which he replied: "If it came to it I would, but I would be concerned for my son".
Brian McInerney BL, defending, said his client, who was in custody at the time, had no knowledge of any phone calls.
Judge Moran discharged the jury and ordered that the matter not be discussed or reported on until the trial was over.
A new jury was sworn in for the trial the following day and on Thursday evening a unanimous guilty verdict was returned.
During the trial, Mr Lee told the court that Dundon threatened to kill him after he refused to let 14-year-old Annabel Dundon - a sister of the accused - into Brannigan's pub.
The court heard Dundon made a shape of a gun with his hand and pushing it against Mr Lee's face said "f . . . you, you're dead".
CCTV footage taken on the night was shown to the jury which showed Dundon driving his sister and his wife, Ann Casey, to Brannigan's pub on the night in question. Mr Lee said he stopped the younger of the two women from going into the pub because she looked about 13 or 14 years of age and she did not have ID.
Annabel Dundon and Ann Casey denied Wayne Dundon had threatened Mr Lee. Sentencing was adjourned until next Thursday.