Teens to stand trial accused of using ‘slammer gun’ in ‘feud’

Two teenagers are to stand trial accused of carrying out a daylight shooting at a house in Mullingar over an ongoing drugs feud.

The pair, both of whom are 16 and cannot be named, appeared before Mullingar District Court charged arising out of an incident at a house in Ardleigh Park, Mullingar, Westmeath on July 14, 2025.

Both were charged with recklessly discharging a firearm and causing €1,000 of criminal damage to the front door of the property, when five people, including the intended target of the shooting, were inside.

Garda Darren Gallagher gave evidence before Judge Valerie Corcoran of how two masked males walked up to the house, one armed with an improvised shotgun, otherwise known as a “slammer” gun.

The court was told the suspect fired a single shot at the front door, and his co-accused recorded the incident on a mobile phone.

A number of residents emerged and chased the pair to a nearby shop.

Garda Gallagher said gardaí arrested the alleged shooter a matter of minutes later, after he was held inside the shop by the supposed target of the incident. The second suspect, Garda Gallagher said, fled the scene and was arrested that evening following a search warrant which was executed at his home.

CCTV footage of the incident was played in open court, both of the shooting and its immediate aftermath in the shop, where part of the improvised firearm was retrieved by gardaí.

Other parts of the alleged weapon, Garda Gallagher said, were retrieved in a field at the back of Grange housing estate in Mullingar.

The court was told it will be the state’s case that the second teenager – who allegedly recorded the shooting – disposed of the firearm after his attempts to provide an alibi for the time of the incident were disproved.

In providing an overview of the CCTV footage taken from the shop, Garda Gallagher said the struggle between the 22-year-old intended victim and the alleged gunman coincided with his co-accused picking up part of the weapon and striking the young man on the back.

Garda Gallagher said despite no physical injuries being caused, the homeowner was living “in fear” of other similar type incidents and he remained “quite concerned” as a result.

The case was subject to a preliminary hearing under Section 75 of the Children Act.

Such a hearing, which is heard by a District Court judge, deals with issues including the age and maturity of the accused minor, or any other relevant facts, and must be heard before any decision is made to send the accused minor forward for trial.

The section also allows a District Court judge to deal summarily with a child charged with an indictable offence, other than an offence required to be tried before the Central Criminal Court.

Garda Gallagher said it was the belief of the gardaí that the alleged weapon used in the attack was picked up by the older of the two teenagers “40 minutes to an hour” before the incident.

He said the alleged shooter made “full admissions” during interview at Mullingar Garda Station, and told detectives he had been “under pressure” from a third party he refused to identify.

Judge Corcoran was told a file was prepared for the garda Juvenile Liaison Office to determine whether a caution could be administered in disposing of the case.

Garda Gallagher said its findings would subsequently close the door on those prospects in light of its seriousness, and resulted in a file being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The directions received, the court heard, were for trial on indictment to the Circuit Criminal Court and that later culminated in the District Court holding a section 75 hearing.

In defence, Andrea Callan, BL, argued that the case could be dealt with in the District Court and not the higher court – which has broader sentencing powers.

In addressing the merits of the older of the two teenagers and the youth gardaí believed was armed with the firearm, Ms Callan said her client was dealing with long-standing “behavioural” difficulties.

She said a psychological report carried out on the teen highlighted how he had received an ASD diagnosis and had previously encountered “negative thoughts” including suicidal ideation and self-harm.

Those, she said, were issues that would have “severely impacted” her client’s “consequential thinking” at the time of the alleged offence.

On his co-accused, Ms Callan asked the court to consider his apparent lesser role and how he had been the one allegedly filming the shooting, not carrying it out.

And while the accused, who is an apprentice carpenter, was not subject to the same emotional challenges as his alleged accomplice, Ms Callan said he too was “under pressure” at the time of the incident.

Judge Corcoran said that although the court was minded to take section 75 hearings “very seriously”, she said the seriousness surrounding the alleged incident was something she, as a District Court judge, could not overlook.

She refused jurisdiction and both teenagers were remanded on bail to Mullingar District Court on October 23 for the servicing of a book of evidence.