Courts / Dublin / Report

Garda shot during raid on criminal's home

Date
2021-10-05

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Ballymun

County
Dublin

Summary

A man has been convicted and sentenced following the shooting of a garda during a raid on a Dublin property in December 2017. Charles Moore, aged 48, of Barnwell Drive, Ballymun, was found guilty on all counts at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, including possession of a firearm without lawful purpose, possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life, and reckless discharge of a firearm. Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Moore to nine years imprisonment for the endangerment offence. Sergeant Paul McManus was struck in the forearm when Moore discharged a semi-automatic pistol as gardaí secured the premises for a drugs search. The officer subsequently underwent multiple surgeries and physiotherapy, and was later medically discharged from An Garda Síochána. Moore, who has eighteen previous convictions, maintained he did not intend to shoot a garda, claiming he believed his home was under attack. The judge accepted Moore was intoxicated at the time and unable to properly assess the situation. Charles Moore pleaded not guilty.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Garda shot during raid on criminal's home. Charges or matters: possession of a semi-automatic pistol without a lawful purpose, possession of five rounds of ammunition without a lawful purpose, possession of a semi-automatic pistol with the intent to endanger life, possession of five rounds of ammunition with the intention to endanger life, the reckless discharge of a firearm and assault of a garda at his home on December 7, 2017. Procedural stage: sentence. Findings: Convicted

When:

June 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
December 7, 2017 Incident
January 2018 Other
2021-10-05 Publication

Why: Speaking of how the shooting affected his young children, he said "in the weeks after, they were uneasy in their own home because they thought the bad man would come to their own house. CNI source report

Case subjects

Charles Moore

Defendant

Charges: possession of a semi-automatic pistol without a lawful purpose, possession of five rounds of ammunition without a lawful purpose, possession of a semi-automatic pistol with the intent to endanger life, possession of five rounds of ammunition with the intention to endanger life, the reckless discharge of a firearm and assault of a garda at his home on December 7, 2017 (Proven)

Plea: Not guilty

Finding: Convicted

Outcome: Convicted; The garda read his victim impact statement during Moore's sentence hearing before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today. The judge said he accepted that Moore didn't intend to shoot and injure a garda "but by reason of his intoxicated state he was in no position to make any such assessment." Judge Nolan sentenced Moore to nine years in prison for the offence of endangerment and took the other charges into account.