A jury has viewed CCTV footage showing Bray Boxing Club at the moment when a gunman shot one gym-goer dead and left two others injured.
Detective Garda Alan Thompson said a grey or silver, long-wheelbase van with a registration beginning 'DFZ' and with slide rails on both sides and tinted rear windows could be seen outside the boxing club at 6.50am on June 5, 2018 when Robert Messett was shot dead. The van driver, who was wearing a cap, dark trousers and a yellow, high visibility vest, got out of the van and went into the boxing club, the garda said.
Det Gda Thompson then took prosecution counsel Paul Murray SC through a CCTV montage using footage taken from various locations in Bray, Shankill, Cabinteely, Deansgrange, Blackrock and Merrion Road leading up to 7:19am on the same morning.
In each piece of footage the detective identified a grey or silver, long-wheelbase van and in some of the footage he noted other features including slide rails, tinted rear windows and the 'DFZ' registration plate. He also told the jury that when a van of the same description crossed the Merrion Gate level crossing on Merrion Road he noted the driver, the only person visible in the van, wearing an orange top.
VW Caddy
Gerard Cervi, from the East Wall area in Dublin 3, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Bobby Messett (50) at Bray Boxing Club, Bray Harbour, Bray, Co Wicklow on June 5th, 2018. He also denies the attempted murder of boxing trainer Peter Taylor and Ian Britton on the same date and location.
Gerard Byrne also gave evidence today, telling Mr Murray that he saw a Volkswagen Caddy outside his home on Pigeon House Road in Dublin at about 8am that morning. He said there was a lot of construction in the nearby docklands in 2018, so there was nothing unusual about seeing a van parked up, but he noticed that the registration plate was Northern Irish or English because it was yellow.
When his wife came home at about 2pm she said the van looked like the one the gardai were looking for. Mr Byrne rang Irishtown Garda Station and gardai arrived about 30 to 40 minutes later.
Mr Byrne's wife Marguerite Byrne said she heard about the van and the "incident in Bray" on the radio news as she drove home.
The trial continues at the Central Criminal Court before Mr Justice Michael White and a jury of seven men and three women.
