Innocent Noel ‘blasted 6 times in head, chest, arm and abdomen over Regency’
AN INNOCENT man with no involvement in crime was shot six times and died from multiple gunshot injuries to his head, chest, arm and abdomen, a pathologist told the Special Criminal Court.
State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan told the court yesterday that she examined the body of Christopher ‘Noel’ Kirwan one day after he was shot outside his Dublin home in December 2016.
She identified eight separate injuries caused by six gunshots.
One of the bullets entered the right side of Mr Kirwan’s chest and damaged the aorta. The same bullet also damaged the lower lobe of the left lung, causing further bleeding and lung collapse.
The resulting restriction of the normal function of the heart and lungs would have caused Mr Kirwan’s death, the pathologist said.
Further gunshot wounds, including to the chest, abdomen and two to the right arm caused blood loss and contributed to death.
One bullet entered Mr Kirwan’s head below the right eye at a downward angle. It fractured Mr Kirwan’s right upper jaw and came to rest under the lower jaw.
Dr Mulligan cited multiple gunshot injuries as the cause of death with no contributory factors. Toxicology tests were negative for drugs or alcohol.
Michael Crotty is on trial accused of facilitating Mr Kirwan’s murder by topping up a mobile phone for Sean Mcgovern, a man not currently before the courts. To preserve the
Michael Crotty, left, allegedly topped up phone for Sean Mcgovern integrity of the ongoing investigation into Mr Kirwan’s murder, details regarding Mr Mcgovern’s alleged involvement in the murder cannot be published.
However, The Mirror can reveal that Mr Mcgovern was shot and injured in the Regency Hotel gun attack in February 2016 that left mobster David Byrne dead.
The prosecution alleges Mr Crotty purchased the phone credit at a Spar in Naas, Co Kildare, on December 21, 2016 on behalf of Mr Mcgovern – knowing it would be used, or being reckless as to whether it would be used, in the commission of a serious crime.
Mr Crotty, 40, of Slí Aonghusa, Aras na Rí, Cashel, Co Tipperary has pleaded not guilty.
The background to the shooting, counsel said, is the attack at the Regency Hotel. Counsel said that attack led to a number of reprisals and “it appears, perhaps mistakenly, Noel Kirwan was thought to be connected to those who carried out the Regency [attack].”
The trial continues.