Witnesses have described to the Central Criminal Court the moment boxing coach Pete Taylor was shot after he "made a charge" at a gunman who had opened fire on a gym session at Bray Boxing Club.
Gerard Cervi from the East Wall area in Dublin 3 has pleaded not guilty to murdering Robert 'Bobby' Messett at Bray Boxing Club, Bray Harbour, Co Wicklow on June 5th, 2018. He also pleaded not guilty to the attempted murders of Peter Taylor and Ian Britton on the same date and at the same location.
Mr Britton gave evidence on Monday to Paul Murray SC, prosecuting, that he went to the gym early that morning for a training session organised by Mr Taylor.
He said he was sitting on the bench press in the gym when the incident “all happened very quickly”. He said he saw a male figure at the door wearing a yellow top and “maybe tracksuit bottoms”, as well as headwear that was “like a hard hat”.
Mr Britton said he did not see the man’s face and described him as being of “maybe medium build” and 5’ 9” to 5’ 10” in height. He told the jury that the man was wearing gloves and had a gun by his side.
He said the gun came up quickly and within seconds there was a bang “towards Bobby”. He said he was in shock and just pulled his brother down to the floor. He said that there was a gap of around 15 seconds between the first and second shots, and the man doing the shooting had both hands on the gun.
“I felt a sharp pain in the right side of my leg,” said Mr Britton.
Mr Murray asked him how many shots were fired in the incident and he replied that if he had to guess, he would say maybe 10. He said the whole incident lasted around 30 to 45 seconds. He told the jury he received surgery and was in hospital for five to six days.
Loud bang
Witness Alan Hunter next gave evidence to Mr Murray that he was in the gym when he heard a loud bang and saw a figure in the door holding a gun. The witness said he ducked down and heard further shots, then a split second later he saw Mr Taylor in the corner. He said Mr Taylor “made a charge” at the man before he hit the ground.
Mr Hunter said he could not tell if the person who fired the shots was a man or a woman. He said the person was wearing a helmet with a black visor. He gave evidence that the person holding the gun was wearing black gloves and after he heard the first shot fired, Mr Hunter dropped to the ground.
Mr Murray asked him what the demeanour of the person at the door was.
“They seemed calm,” replied Mr Hunter.
He told the jury that he went into the toilets looking for a phone to call an ambulance, and when he came out he saw Mr Messett. He confirmed to Mr Murray that he told gardaí: “I knew that was it for Bobby.”
Mr Hunter said that he saw Mr Taylor “hobbling”. He said that during the incident, Mr Taylor had been in a corner before he ran at the gunman.
“He made a run and collapsed down on the ground. He obviously got hit with the bullet,” said Mr Hunter, going on to say that there were about seven shots in total.
Hi-Viz jacket
The next witness to give evidence was Stephen Kearns, who told Antonia Boyle BL, for the State, that he saw someone coming into the gym wearing a Hi-Viz jacket. He said that there could have been writing on the Hi-Viz jacket and thought the person was wearing a bike helmet.
“I can’t be sure, but he was definitely wearing something on his head,” said Mr Kearns.
“I heard a noise, I wasn’t sure what it was. I saw everyone going to the floor, so I dropped. I looked up and saw Pete [Taylor] running for him and falling, then the other man was gone,” said Mr Kearns.
He confirmed that judging by the build, the person who fired the shots was a man.
“I just heard a loud bang, there was an echo in the room, and it sounded different because of the echo. I heard the gunshots going off, about seven or eight,” said Mr Kearns.
He said he saw Mr Taylor running towards the gunman, before he tripped and fell down. He confirmed that he did not think there was any contact between the gunman and Mr Taylor because Mr Taylor fell as he was running towards him.
Mr Kearns gave evidence that he ran into the ladies' toilets to try to open a window to get help, and when he came out he saw Mr Messett lying against a machine.
“He looked dead,” said Mr Kearns.
He said he could not really remember how long the incident lasted and he did not know what was going on.
Defence counsel Hugh Hartnett SC put it to the witness that Mr Kearns had told gardaí the gunman was 5’ 10”, to which Mr Kearns replied that the man could have been taller because of the helmet.
Exercise class
At the opening of the trial, Mr Murray told the jury that a gunman went into Bray Boxing Club at 06.50am on June 5th, 2018 and went to the door of an exercise class where Mr Taylor was teaching.
“He proceeded to fire a number of shots, nine in all, starting, it would appear, on the right-hand side and going around the room,” Mr Murray said.
“The nearest person to him was Mr Bobby Messett. Mr Messett was shot in the head and died quickly at the scene. One of the other people there was Mr Ian Britton. As the shots continued, he was also shot but survived.
“Mr Taylor himself, who attempted to make a run at the gunman from the left or left-centre of the room, was also shot,” Mr Murray said.
As a participant in Mr Taylor’s exercise class, Mr Messett was “quite simply in the wrong place at the wrong time”, Mr Murray suggested to the jury.
Counsel also told the jury they would hear that fingerprint and DNA evidence taken from a van allegedly used by the gunman link the shootings to Mr Cervi.
The trial continues on Tuesday before Ms Justice Karen O’Connor and the jury of six men and six women.
