A NORTHERN Ireland man has been found guilty by the Special Criminal Court in Dublin of the murder of a man shot dead in a church car park in Co Donegal almost four years ago.
Martin Kelly (37) had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Andrew Burns (27), who was shot twice in the back by a gunman linked to dissident republican group Óglaigh na hÉireann.
Mr Justice Paul Butler, presiding, said yesterday: “The court is satisfied beyond doubt that the accused was part of a joint enterprise, the object of which was to cause serious injury to the late Mr Burns and that he is thereby guilty of murder.”
The court ruled last month that statements made by Kelly to gardaí, in which he admitted driving Mr Burns, from Strabane, Co Tyrone, across the Border to Co Donegal where he was shot dead, were admissible in evidence.
Kelly, a bus driver, Barrack Street, Strabane, was convicted of the murder of Mr Burns, an unemployed man, at Donnyloop, Castlefin, Co Donegal, on February 12th, 2008. He was also found guilty of the unlawful possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. The shooting was heard by a group of five young people from Clady, Co Tyrone, who were walking in the area.
Kelly’s trial began in early October but after two days of evidence, the court started a “trial within a trial” to decide on the admissibility of statements made by Kelly while in Garda custody in Letterkenny and a statement he made to two senior gardaí at a hotel in Northern Ireland. That “trial within a trial” lasted two days.
Tom O’Connell SC, prosecuting, said Kelly was part of a joint enterprise or plot to lure Mr Burns to Donnyloop on the pretext that he was required to go on an IRA operation in which it was intended to murder a PSNI officer who was dating a young woman in Donnyloop.
When they got there, they were met by three men who were known as members of Óglaigh na hÉireann.
The court was shown a video recording of when Kelly was interviewed by Chief Supt Diarmuid O’Sullivan and Supt Kevin English at a hotel in Ballymena in Northern Ireland on March 11th, 2010.
Kelly said that a week before the murder he was approached by Mr A who asked him to take Mr Burns to Donnyloop for “a punishment beating or shooting”. He met Mr A the next day and he told him that Mr B and Mr C would be there for the shooting.
Kelly told the officers that he knew it was “an IRA operation” and he said he had done other jobs for the IRA but had never been sworn in himself.
He said that on the day of the murder, he picked up Mr Burns at the KFC in Strabane and drove him to Donnyloop car park. Mr Burns got out of the car and Mr A walked past him. Then Mr B approached Mr Burns and went to pull the trigger of his gun but the gun jammed.
Mr Burns started to run towards the car park exit and the gunman, Mr B, ran after him and fired a shot which injured him.
Kelly said that Mr Burns stumbled but kept running towards the church but Mr B chased him and fired a second shot.
He said Mr A, Mr B and Mr C then got back into the car and Mr C shouted at him to keep calm, to drive out of the car park slowly and keep the lights off. He said he could see that Mr Burns had stumbled and was lying on the road at that stage.
Kelly said he drove to Clady village where Mr B handed him the revolver inside a black plastic bag and told him to dispose of it. He put it in the side of a hedge.
He then drove the three men to the Fir Trees Hotel in Strabane where he left them.
He told gardaí that he had known Mr A “all my life”, Mr B for 15 years and Mr C for 10 years.
Kelly told the court during the “trial within a trial” that after his arrest, when he was taken to Letterkenny Garda station, he was “in fear for his life”.
“There were certain people connected with dissident republicans who were interested to find out what the police were asking me,” he said.
The court remanded Kelly in custody for sentencing on January 24th.