'I DON'T KNOW WHY MORE BURGLARS AREN'T SHOT' Nally reveals he's lost faith in Government's crime fight.Byline: MARIE Marie (mərē`), 1875–1938, queen of Romania, consort of Ferdinand. The daughter of Alfred, duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, she was the granddaughter of Czar Alexander II of Russia and of Queen Victoria of England. KIERANS THE farmer who shot dead a Traveller five years ago said he can't understand why more burglars are not being shot. Padraig Nally Padraig Nally is an Irish farmer living in County Mayo. In November 2005 he was sentenced to 6 years in jail for the manslaughter of John Ward, a member of the travelling community. , 66, who lives in the same farmhouse where the fatal shooting occurred, revealed in an interview with the Farmer's Journal he is still afraid to sleep at night. The Mayo native also said he has lost faith in the Government and its ability to combat crime. He added: "I defended my home, my castle. You have to be able to defend yourself." Mr Nally claimed John "Frog" Ward had "his hands around my throat" at one stage during the struggle when Nally shot the Traveller twice with his shotgun and beat him with a stick. He said:"You don't know how you're going to react when the panic hits you. You don't know if there's one or 10 of them. "But when you meet a fella doing that to you or your house, you've no choice. "If you ring the guards around there, it could take an age, because they probably have to come from Claremorris in my case. Ballinrobe is down to a three-hour day." When asked if it means that we need to shoot burglars on sight, he replied: "I let off a shot one time when I heard the back door being opened at 2.30 in the morning. But you might as well be shooting at a bucket of water. "I've heard plenty of people saying they've had enough of break-ins and they won't let them away with it. "To be honest I can't understand how it [shooting burglars] is not happening more." Mr Nally added he believes "people are afraid to speak up" because they are aware of the risk of making themselves targets for criminals. The farmer was tried for the murder in 2004 of Mr Ward, 42, and found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter manslaughter, homicide committed without justification or excuse but distinguished from murder by the absence of the element of malice aforethought. Modern criminal statutes usually divide it into degrees, the most common distinction being between voluntary and . However, the Court of Criminal Appeal subsequently ruled the original trial erred in law by failing to allow the jury the opportunity to return a verdict of not guilty. A retrial retrial n. a new trial granted upon the motion of the losing party, based on obvious error, bias or newly-discovered evidence. (See: newly-discovered evidence) was ordered and he was found not guilty and freed from prison. news@irishmirror.ie |
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