Andrew Carey
THE intended the target of a shooting has said that he believes the attack was carried out in an attempt to recover a drugs debt owed to convicted dealer “Fat John McCarthy”.
In his evidence, 40-year-old stay at home father of five Mark Troy told the jury in the trial of 27-year-old accused Anthony O’Donovan charged with the possession of a firearm with the intent to endanger life, that he believed the shooter was at his Westbury home to in the middle of the night on the orders of a “dangerous” drug dealer looking to recoup a €750 debt that had increased to €7,500 through “interest”.
The father of five said that he smoked up to five or six small joints of cannabis a night and bought a up to €100 worth of the drug weekly.
Mr Troy told gardai that on the night three shots were fired into his house, he saw the accused man standing in his garden holding a handgun before firing a bullet through a bedroom window, hitting the wardrobe, in the room where an infant baby slept.
However, Mr Troy said that on the night he “believed” that the shooter was the accused, but after a “neutral third party” spoke to his sister, he is now “second guessing” the identity of the shooter. Troy said that he was shown the face of another man on social media site facebook and that it is very similar to that of the accused so now he “had a doubt”.
Prosecution counsel for the State, John O’Sullivan, put it to the 40-year-old father of five who has previous convictions for drugs, weapons and theft offences, that he had recently “dredged up” something to change his mind so he “could duck out of giving evidence”.
“It looks like you’ve been got at”, added Mr O’Sullivan.
Following legal argeument, Judge Carroll Moran ruled that Mr Troy’s original garda statement and the video taken in Mayorstone Garda Station be admitted into evidence where Troy identified O’Donovan as the shooter on the night.
During cross examination by defence counsel Brian McInerney, Mr Troy outlined to the court that he believed members of McCarthy criminal gang, sent him warning text messages about the debt, threatened him in the company of his children outside a fast food restaurant on Father’s Day two years ago and that on another occasion up to four men tried to bundle him into the boot of a car in kidnap attempt but failed after the gang didn’t want to engage with Troy’s pit bull dog “Dollar” that was unmuzzled.
The court heard that the alleged victim of the shooting had previous convictions for theft, drugs and weapons offences during the 90s and had received sentences from then district court Judge Michael Reilly.
Agreeing with Mr McInerney, Troy said “ya, I got jail from ’10-month Reilly’ alright”.
Mark Troy also told the court that he would smoke cannabis an drink beer in a room at the side of his house and on the night of the shooting he had consumed bottles of Budweiser and smoked up to six joints.
He said that he had accrued a debt of €750 for cannabis from a Moyross dealer, but that the gang came looking for a €7,500 because he ignored calls and demands to pay.
Troy said that he changed “supplier” and that the debt was owing for over a year and a half.
Asked if he would name the people involved in making the threats or those who attempted to kidnap him, Mark Troy said he “didn’t want to identify them at the minute”, but said they were from the “McCarthy gang in Moyross”.
Asked what the reference to John was that he heard the shooter say on the night his house was fired at, Troy said it “could have been Fat John – something about a message from John”.
Convicted Moyross drug dealer John McCarthy is serving a 14 year prison sentence for the possession of heroin for sale or supply.
Asked again as to the identity of the man that shot at his house in September of last year, Troy said he could not be sure it was the accused from Aherlow Close on the Old Cratloe Road, adding that “I don’t want to see a man going to jail for something he didn’t do – that’s not right”.
The trial continues before Judge Carroll Moran at Limerick Circuit Court.
