Diarmuid Phelan acquitted of murder by Central Criminal Court jury

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Diarmuid Phelan was acquitted of murdering Keith Conlon by a Central Criminal Court jury on 3 January 2025. The jury unanimously accepted the defence case that Phelan was entitled to defend himself when he came under threat on his own land in Tallaght, Dublin.

The jury rejected the prosecution’s case that Phelan intended to kill or seriously injure Conlon when he fired the fatal shot. Phelan had pleaded not guilty to murder; the verdict followed a 10-week trial.

In a later costs ruling, the trial judge awarded Phelan costs on the legal aid scale. The expected costs were estimated at about €1.25 million, and the award was likely to cover about half of that bill.