A MAN on trial for murder has cast doubt on a telephone call made before a shooting in which the victim allegedly said defendant Gerald Breslin was firing a gun and intended to kill him.
When the details of that call were put to Breslin at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday, he said the claims made in the call by Mark Shaw were wrong.
He alleged 24-year-old Mr Shaw had actually fired the gun himself earlier that night at Mr Shaw's house in Winterton Rise, Bestwood Park, before leaving it in an alleyway.
Gerald Breslin said he retrieved the gun and drove to his nephew Thomas Breslin's home in Heatherington Gardens, Top Valley, to ask him and his mother what to do with it.
Mr Shaw ended up at the same address and Gerald Breslin claims he then fired the gun by accident in the garden. The shot hit Mr Shaw in the head at close range.
The prosecution claims it was actually Gerald Breslin who originally fired the gun outside Mr Shaw's flat and that later Gerald Breslin deliberately killed Mr Shaw.
In a police statement, Thomas Breslin, known as Tom, had said he had a telephone conversation with Mr Shaw in which Mr Shaw had said Gerald Breslin had a gun, was shooting it and was going to kill him.
But giving evidence in court he gave a different account, saying all Mr Shaw had said was "the gun's gone off".
Stuart Rafferty QC, prosecuting, yesterday said to Gerald Breslin: "Mark said to Tom that you had the gun, and you were going to kill Mark, and that you were shooting the gun at Mark's flat. How could Mark have got that impression?"
The defendant, who maintains he only picked up the gun after Mr Shaw had used it, replied that Mr Shaw would not have known he had gone back for the gun.
Mr Rafferty asked: "If he said that he was completely and utterly wrong?"
"Yes," Breslin, 39, replied.
His barrister, Trevor Burke QC, had previously asked him: "There's some suggestion that you may have attempted to kill him [Mr Shaw] back at his own flat. Was it you who fired the gun in his garden?"
Breslin told him: "No".
The defendant, also of Winterton Rise, said he had arrived at Thomas Breslin's home with two bags of beer and the shotgun.
He said his intention was to put the gun back in the car, but as he turned round the gun went off.
He said there was a big flash and a loud bang and he saw Mark drop to the floor, and he said, screaming: "What have I done?"
He surrendered himself voluntarily at Oxclose Lane police station three days after the incident on August 21 last year.
Breslin denies murder and possession of a shotgun with intent to endanger life. He admits carrying a firearm in a public place.
The trial continues.
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