Man who shot friend in leg after booze-up walks free
Farmer pays victim €20k
THE farmer who blasted his best friend with a double-barrelled shotgun after drinking two pints of whiskey has walked free from court.
Father-of-two Liam Flynn, 53, was given a four-year suspended sentence for the assault causing harm to his ‘great pal’ Noel Enright, 41, on Flynn’s remote farmhouse at Afflick, Tulla, Co. Clare, on January 28, 2015.
Judge Gerald Keys told Flynn at Ennis Circuit Court that he should consider himself ‘very, very lucky’ with regard to the sentence he received.
The judge added: ‘You have caused serious damage to Mr Enright which has and will continue to have a profound effect on him for the future.’
Judge Keys made it a condition of the suspended sentence that Flynn pay over €20,000 in compensation to his victim.
In addition, Flynn has also agreed not to abuse alcohol or drugs for the next four years.
While imposing the suspended jail term, the judge said: ‘I am not sure that society would benefit from imposing a custodial sentence.’
Lorcan Connolly BL, counsel for Flynn, told the court that Mr Enright has initiated civil proceedings against his client concerning the incident.
Flynn and Mr Enright were church-going friends for 20 years before Flynn blasted his ‘great pal’, who is from Doora, Co. Clare, in his left upper thigh at his home after a long night of drinking.
Mr Enright would stay at Flynn’s home once a week where the two would drink and watch their favourite TV show, Sons of Anarchy, a drama about a gang of outlaw US bikers.
Mr Connolly said: ‘The goingson in the house that night could have been taken out of the Sons of Anarchy.’
Mr Enright was rushed to hospital in Limerick where he underwent a number of surgeries for the wound in which more than 100 pellets were found.
Mr Connolly said that while Mr Enright was recovering in hospital from the shotgun blast, Flynn brought him a holy statue, a prayer book and holy water.
In his judgement, Judge Keys
‘It was a pure accident’
said that the two men had offered ‘polar opposite’ accounts of what had taken place that night.
In his statement to An Garda Síochána, Mr Enright said: ‘I remember Liam saying to me, “Do you know that girl, Taci, you are seeing? She is a spy.”
‘At that I started roaring laughing and Liam jumped up and pulled out his gun and put his gun to shoulder level and said, “You are a f ***** g tout for the gardaí” and bang – he shot me. I was sitting on the couch.’
However, Flynn told gardaí at the scene that Mr Enright ‘is my best friend for years and it (the gun) just went off’. He also said: ‘I tapped him on the knee with the barrel. It just went off – it was a pure accident… I am a good man, gardaí. I did nothing wrong. I am just under pressure.’
Judge Keys told Flynn: ‘You are unable to explain your conduct which appears to have been completely out of character.
‘After the discharge of your shotgun, and on realising the consequences of your actions, you assisted Mr Enright by compressing towels on the wound to stem the flow of blood.’
Judge Keys said Flynn had pleaded guilty to the charge, expressed remorse for his actions, had given €20,000 into the court, has no previous convictions and is considered not likely to re-offend.
The judge also said that Flynn’s actions had ended his friendship with Mr Enright.
Mr Connolly said that on the night, Flynn had drunk two pints of whiskey and a half-bottle of a liqueur, while Mr Enright had drunk a lot of red wine as well as smoking some weed.
Judge Keys said that it should be clear from this case that mixing drugs and alcohol does not go down well at all and that what occurred on the night stemmed from overindulgence.
The court was told that Flynn is ‘a good dad’ to his two children with two different mothers that he is estranged from.
Flynn left court accompanied by the two mothers of his children yesterday and declined to comment on the outcome of the case.