Almost 16 years after innocent rugby player Shane Geoghegan was shot dead in a case of mistaken identity, the Limerick gangster who ordered the hit, John Dundon, has been accused of a "cynical ploy" after he sacked his lawyers and asked for an adjournment of an appeal against his murder conviction.
After the Court of Appeal granted an application for Dundon's lawyers to withdraw from the case, Dundon told the three-judge court that he discharged his lawyers after discovering last Tuesday that they were unable to advance a ground of appeal that had been identified in recent months.
Dundon said he did not want to go into detail about the additional ground of appeal but said it related to things that were not disclosed to him ahead of his trial and that he was told did not exist but he is now in a position to prove did exist.
He said he had instructed his legal team to raise the ground of appeal but decided to discharge them when he claimed he was told they "hadn't done it properly".
Sean Guerin SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said Dundon was engaging in a "cynical ploy" and that he had used a similar tactic at his trial in 2013. Counsel said disclosure was carried out in full and the director is "adamant" it can meet any complaint regarding disclosure.
Mr Guerin said the director is anxious to get on with the case and the deceased's mother, who has attended every court date, "wants to see an end" to the matter.
Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said Dundon had "gone through several sets of competent lawyers" and that the latest dismissal "must raise an issue of good faith". Mr Justice John Edwards, presiding, granted the application for an adjournment but warned that Dundon must instruct his new lawyers at the earliest opportunity and they must complete all necessary paperwork by April 8th.
The appeal hearing will take place on April 22nd and Mr Justice Edwards said the court would "not entertain any further applications for adjournment barring exceptional and unforeseen circumstances."
Dundon (41), formerly of Hyde Road in Limerick, was convicted at the Special Criminal Court in 2013 of ordering the hit that killed the 28-year-old Mr Geoghegan near the victim's home at Clonmore, Kilteragh, Dooradoyle on November 9th, 2008. He is serving a life sentence.
Mr Geoghegan played rugby for Garryowen in Limerick and had been watching an Ireland international game at a friend's house before heading home shortly before 1am. He had just texted his girlfriend Jenna Barry to say he was on his way when Ms Barry heard shots being fired outside. Mr Geoghegan was shot five times with a Glock semi-automatic pistol. The fatal shot was to the back of the head.
It was the State’s case that Mr Geoghegan was the unintended victim of a shooting that was meant for another man and was ordered by John Dundon. Key prosecution witness April Collins gave evidence that John Dundon ordered gunman Barry Doyle to kill the other man.
Doyle (38) admitted during garda interviews that he shot Mr Geoghegan in a case of mistaken identity.
However Doyle, of Portland Row in Dublin 1, later pleaded not guilty at trial to the murder of Mr Geoghegan. He was found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court and was given the mandatory life sentence by Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan on February 16th, 2012.
