A convicted murderer was the balaclava-clad gunman who tried to murder a man during a shooting on Dublin's northside in 2019, the Special Criminal Court has heard.
Bernard Fogarty (35) with an address at Cromcastle Court, Kilmore, Coolock, Dublin 5, has pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Mark Ivers at Streamville Road, Donaghmede, Dublin 13, on September 6th, 2019.
At the Special Criminal Court, Detective Sergeant Eoin Colbert gave evidence to counsel for the prosecution, Sean Gillane SC, that a taxi driver in the area saw Mr Ivers enter a house at Streamville Road just after 7pm on that evening.
The taxi driver then noticed “a fella” in a balaclava approaching the house with a gun in his hand. Det Sgt Colbert said that the taxi driver described the weapon as “a big, black gun with a magazine in it”. The taxi driver said the man was wearing a boiler-type suit and gloves, and he emerged from a Nissan Almera.
Det Sgt Colbert said a woman in the area was leaving her home when she noticed a car near the curb from which a male in a balaclava emerged. The woman said to her partner that the man was carrying “a big, black gun”, and the man with the gun looked at her and her partner.
Det Sgt Colbert gave evidence that the woman said, “Oh, my God, he has a gun,” and she felt the man heard her because he looked at her. The woman said the man raised the gun and walked towards the house, and he did not appear to be panicking. The woman and her partner ran away and gave warning to others in the area.
When the gardaí and ambulance services arrived, they discovered that Mr Ivers had been shot twice to the femur and lower abdomen.
He was taken to hospital where he was found to have gunshot wounds to his abdomen and right upper leg, and a CT scan showed that he had suffered a liver laceration.
Det Sgt Colbert said an investigation was commenced and CCTV footage harvested. The Almera was driven to the Edenmore area and Fogarty and a female were seen to get out before the car was set alight.
Fogarty and the female were later collected from a pub by an associate in a Mercedes.
Det Sgt Colbert said three spent bullet casings were found at the scene of the shooting. He confirmed that evidence was gathered of “intense communication” just prior to the shooting between a phone number connected to Fogarty and a number that appeared to be an associate of his.
He said Mr Ivers had been contacted, and an arrangement was made for him to attend at the house regarding a motorcycle.
Det Sgt Colbert said Mr Ivers did not cooperate afterwards with the garda investigation. Fogarty was arrested on October 22nd, 2020.
Det Sgt Colbert said Fogarty has 54 previous convictions, including a conviction for murder for which he is serving a life sentence.
In December last year, judges at the Special Criminal Court convicted both Fogarty and Robert Redmond of the gun-murder of father-of-five Barry Wolverson, who died after spending more than a year in a coma. They were both given mandatory life sentence for the murder.
Both men were also found guilty of assault causing harm to Gerard Wildman, who was also shot during the same attack at around midday on January 17th, 2020.
Defence counsel Séamus Clarke SC said Fogarty had a history of drug and alcohol misuse. He said his client had entered a guilty plea to the attempted murder of Mr Ivers, and he asked the court to be as lenient as it could.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt put the matter back to May 19th for sentencing and remanded Fogarty in custody to that date.
