Man who shot Noel Campion told multiple people he killed a man, court hears
Alison O'Riordan
An associate of the Dundon McCarthy gang who fatally shot Noel Campion 19 years ago told multiple people - including a police officer in the US - that he had killed a man, the Central Criminal Court was told on Friday evening.
The court heard during today's sentence hearing for 42-year-old Darragh Quinlivan that he later characterised what he had said as "sh**e talk" and sarcasm.
Quinlivan had originally been charged with the murder of Mr Campion (35) on the northside of Limerick city on April 26th, 2007.
However, when arraigned before the Central Criminal Court last week, Quinlivan, originally from Limerick City but with an address at Ranswell Close, Bolton, Manchester in the UK, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life at or about the junction of High Road and Thomondgate in Limerick.
He has also pleaded guilty that on the same occasion with the purpose of enhancing the ability of a criminal organisation, being the Dundon McCarthy organised criminal group, to commit a serious offence in the State, to wit the murder of Mr Campion, did knowingly participate in the activity of that criminal organisation by shooting dead the said Mr Campion.
Mr Campion was shot dead as he was riding as a back passenger on a motorbike at Thomondgate in Limerick City - close to St Munchin's Church.
Prosecution counsel, Dean Kelly SC, previously told the court that Quinlivan was not pleading guilty to the offence of murder.
Sentence hearing
Inspector Fergal Hanrahan detailed the events of the morning of April 26th, 2007, telling Mr Kelly that the deceased Noel Campion had been due to appear in Limerick District Court for road traffic offences.
Mr Kelly said Mr Campion had travelled towards the city as a pavilion passenger on a motorcycle being driven by Brian 'Spider' Scanlan, who was in a relationship with the deceased's sister.
The Insp said the men were stopped in traffic behind a truck when 'lone male' Darragh Quinlivan walked out from a nearby phone booth and discharged a firearm a number of times, leading to the death of Mr Campion.
An eyewitness, who later rang 999, said that as he was parking his van a man in a red hoodie, who was about to open the door of the phone kiosk, had pulled a hood down over his forehead.
The witness said the shooter outstretched his right hand as the motorcycle passed him and fired four shots into the back of the pavilion passenger.
Insp Hanrahan said Quinlivan made his getaway in a Volkswagen Passat and left the scene at speed in the direction of Moyross. The vehicle was later found partially burnt out.
The court heard that an "extremely quick response" was made by gardaí and paramedics, who commenced cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Mr Campion.
This continued en route to the hospital where it was noted that Mr Campion was in cardiac arrest with gunshot wounds to the front of the abdomen, said counsel.
Mr Campion, the lawyer said, was ultimately pronounced dead at 11:25am that morning; around 40 minutes after the shooting. There were eight gunshot wounds with four entry and four exit wounds. He died from blood loss from those injuries and had significant damage to the aorta.
At 8:45pm that night, gardaí observed Quinlivan accompanied by seven other members of the McCarthy-Dundon gang drinking and behaving in a celebratory mood.
A short time later on May 1st, 2007, the court heard, Quinlivan went to the garda station to have a passport signed.
On May 2nd, 2007, the witness said Quinlivan appeared before Nenagh Circuit Court on an unrelated matter regarding the taking of a car. Quinlivan gave evidence, where he said it was his intention to leave Ireland to move to the US, where work was waiting for him. The defendant said it was his desire to leave the country as soon as he possibly could due to his involvement in a feud.
Mr Kelly said in 2007 there was a feud between the Keane-Collopy and the McCarthy-Dundon gangs.
The barrister said that gardaí later received confidential information which caused the investigation to focus on Quinlivan. On May 10th, 2007, two gardaímet the defendant by appointment and took a voluntary cautioned interview about the morning of April 26th.
Asked to account for his movements, Quinlivan told officers he had stayed in his parents house on the night of April 25th. The defendant said he woke the next morning around 10:45am to a phone call from someone at the courthouse to say Mr Campion had been shot. "In essence he provided his own alibi and the news of the shooting caused him to get up," remarked Mr Kelly.
Quinlivan said he left his parents house that morning and went to visit the grave of his friend Frankie Ryan, who had died in 2006. Insp Hanrahan said Gary Campion is a brother of Noel and is serving a life sentence for this murder.
When gardaí spoke to Quinlivan again four days later, the defendant said he recalled driving around in convoy with other cars and had gone to a party in John Dundon's house.
On May 25th, 2007, George Quinlivan was asked to account for his son's movements and he said Darragh was asleep in bed on the morning of April 26th.
Darragh Quinlivan, Mr Kelly said, left Ireland on June 6th, 2007, with his passport obtained in the days after the shooting. The defendant travelled to Tacoma in Washington State, where he lived and worked for the next six months.
Counsel said in the early hours of January 13th, 2008 local police were called to a domestic incident in a house, where the defendant and his uncle had a significant argument which strayed into violence.
One of the officers arrested Quinlivan and observed he was so drunk that when he was travelling to the police station he had trouble talking and walking.
The policeman said Quinlivan told him: "You know why I'm here, I killed a man in Ireland" and then named the man as being 'Noel'.
The defendant said he had shot the man in the back of the head "execution style". The officer also stated that Quinlivan said all the bullets were to the deceased man's trunk, none to the head and that he had killed him in retaliation for 'Noel' having killed a friend of his.
Another family friend said in a statement to police in August 2007 that Quinlivan had told her he had done something back home. She asked Quinlivan if he had killed someone, and she said he neither admitted nor denied that was the case.
Another woman said the defendant told her he was in the US as he had killed a member of an opposing gang and she recollected a motorbike being mentioned. She said Quinlivan told her he walked out and shot "the guy with a handgun". She said the defendant made the gesture of a handgun and said 'bang bang'.
The wife of Quinlivan's uncle also told police that while the defendant was living with them, he said he had killed someone but hadn't mentioned the name. Mr Kelly said these revelations were brought to the attention of gardaí in Ireland to see if they were of assistance.
Quinlivan later denied to police in the US that he had murdered Mr Campion, adding that he hadn't fled there and that it was a planned trip. The defendant said he was closest to the Dundons and "couldn't get closer".
The defendant, Mr Kelly said, was deported back to Ireland from the US in 2008 and characterised what he said to the officer in the US as "sh**e talk" and sarcasm. Insp Hanrahan said the evidence in the case had been available to gardaí some years ago and it was recommenced as a cold case review in 2022.
The witness said Quinlivan was a close associate of the McCarthy-Dundon criminal gang and was believed to have accidentally discharged a firearm at a house party in 2006, where a woman was injured.
"It was believed to have been not an incident of deliberate criminality but rather highly reckless horseplay, which led to her suffering a gun wound," said Mr Kelly.
Quinlivan has 24 previous convictions, including those for robbery with a firearm and the unauthorised taking of a MPV.
Under cross-examination, the Insp agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that a significant amount of evidence the State was to rely on at trial in essence came from Quinlivan's own mouth, including what he had said to people in the US with drink on board.
The detective further agreed with the lawyer that his client had removed himself from Limerick City after 2012 and moved to the UK, where he got a job, settled down and "took a turn in the road for the good".
The detective agreed with the prosecutor that gardaí are of the view that the killing of Noel Campion was directed by the McCarthy-Dundon criminal organisation.
In his submissions, Mr Clarke said that his client wasn't somebody who was tight-lipped and had kept to himself in the past, but he was now the epitome of a family man and had worked hard the last 13 years for his three children.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott remanded Quinlivan in custody until February 9th, when he will be sentenced.
