The jury in the trial of a law professor who is accused of murdering a criminal on his farm has been sent home for the second day, the judge told there was a “difficulty” because the prosecution’s next witness was not available.

Diarmuid Phelan (56) pleaded not guilty to murdering father-of-four Keith Conlon (36) at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalow Lane, Tallaght, Dublin 24, on February 24, 2022.

Mr Phelan is a solicitor, law lecturer and farmer who owns Hazelgrove, a former golf course in Tallaght.

Addressing the 12 jurors at the Central Criminal Court on Friday morning, Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford said: “Today we have a difficulty, the next prosecution witness is not available in court today and we are unable to proceed with evidence because that is why “.

The judge said he would adjourn the matter to 2pm on Monday.

The judge warned the jury of nine men and three women about using social media and asked them not to undertake any independent research into the case.

On Thursday, Ms Justice Lankford dismissed the jury until this morning, telling the 12 panel members that, for reasons beyond her control, they had no work for them.

In her opening address, Roisin Lacey SC said the jury would hear evidence that on the day in question three men, including Mr Conlon, entered a wooded area of ​​Mr Phelan’s land while hunting foxes or badgers.

Ms Lacey said Mr Phelan told police he became concerned about a dog running across his land towards his sheep and shot it with his Winchester rifle, after which he said three men immediately “exploded” from the wooded area and they started threatening him.

The 12 jurors were also told by the state that Mr Phelan said he was shaking with fear and they “brawled” at a bank to escape, but when dead man Keith Conlon and a second man continued to come, he thought they were “coming to fulfill the threats they had made.”

As they approached, Mr Phelan said he reached for the Smith & Wesson revolver in his pocket and fired into the air above their heads, but was “surprised when one man went down”, the court heard.

In her opening statement, Ms Lacey said she expected the defense’s case to be that the accused had the right to discharge the firearm in a legitimate act of self-defence. They will say it was not done with the intention of causing the bullet to enter Mr Conlon’s body and that the penetration was an accidental, unintended result, she said.

Mr Conlon, of Kiltalow Park in Tallaght, was seriously injured in the shooting incident on February 22 and died in Tallaght University Hospital two days later.

The State’s case, Ms Lacey stressed, is that when the third shot was fired, the gun was pointed in the direction of the deceased, who was shot in the back of the head as he turned to leave. “In the circumstances, we say the accused intended to kill or cause serious injury,” the lawyer said.

The trial continues Monday afternoon before Ms. Justice Lankford and jurors.