Witness recalls horror of drive-by killing outside jail
A man was killed in a drive-by shooting in Dublin as he waited for his friend to deliver clothes to an inmate in Cloverhill prison, a court heard today.
Jonathan O’Reilly was gunned down as he sat in the front seat of a BMW outside the jail April last year.
Dublin Central Criminal Court heard how visitors to the jail witnessed the aftermath of the bloody attack.
Dan Whelan told the court he had gone to Cloverhill to visit a friend who was being held on remand.
He had taken the inmate’s girlfriend and baby along with him.
Mr Whelan told the court he was standing outside the prison gates when a motorbike carrying two people pulled up alongside the BMW.
He told the court the pillion passenger fired a number of rounds into the car from point-blank range smashing a window and hitting Mr O’Reilly in the body.
“The pillion passenger leaned over and let off shots and then they took off,” he told the court.
“I assumed there was three (shots), I just heard boom, boom, boom and then the bike took off. I was just standing there not expecting anything to happen.
“I went over to the car to see if the man was still breathing.”
Mr Whelan, who said he was in complete shock, told the court he saw a man lying slumped in the front of the car with bullet wounds to his body.
“The chap was laying over into the driver’s seat with the belt on him and I could see marks on his stomach – holes,” he said.
“I saw holes, yes, but I did not see any bullets.”
Brian Kenny, (aged 35), of Kilshane Cross, Finglas, in North Dublin, and Thomas Hinchon, (aged 25), from Clondalkin, West Dublin, are charged with murder.
Both men deny the charges.
The shooting took place on April 17, 2004, yards from the front gate of Cloverhill prison.
Mr O’Reilly had gone to the jail with three other men in the BMW car. One of the men was delivering clothes to an inmate at the jail.
Mr O’Reilly was shot in the chest and abdomen at point blank range after a motorcycle carrying two people pulled up alongside the car.
The bike, which the court was told was a multicoloured Honda CBR 600, stopped at the front passenger window of the parked car before the pillion passenger let off a number of shots.
The court was told both of the people on the bike were dressed head to toe in black.
Mr Whelan said the pair were wearing black padded leather gear and black helmets.
He told the court he could not see their faces but described one of them as bulky.
The case continues.
