Robert Lawlor acquitted of attempted murder and four other charges

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

Robert Lawlor was acquitted of the attempted murder of Fiona Mitchell and four other charges at the Central Criminal Court. A jury returned not-guilty verdicts on all five charges after deliberating for two hours and 40 minutes. The proceedings were reported on 9 December 2019.

Mr Lawlor had pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. Both charges related to Moatview Avenue, Priorswood, Dublin, on 26 May 2018. He also pleaded not guilty to making a threat to Rachel Kirwan in Donaghmede, Dublin, to kill or cause serious harm to Fiona Mitchell and her son Derek Mitchell. The alleged threat was made on an unknown date between 1 and 31 January 2018. He also denied shooting Fiona Mitchell’s dog Chopper and endangering its health and welfare at Moatview Avenue on 26 May 2018.

Fiona Mitchell told the jury that she saw Mr Lawlor facing her with a gun in her back garden and had no doubt about her identification. She said she had never met him but had studied his photographs and videos online. Defence barrister Patrick McGrath SC said her evidence was neither reliable nor truthful and warned about identification evidence. The prosecution said she had consistently identified Mr Lawlor since the evening of the shooting.

Rachel Kirwan had told gardaí that Mr Lawlor threatened Derek Mitchell and his mother, but told the trial that she had lied and that he had made no such threats. She said she felt guilty after Fiona Mitchell told her Mr Lawlor was responsible for the shooting. In interviews with gardaí, Mr Lawlor suggested others could have been behind the attack. Mr Justice Paul McDermott presided.