‘You’re dead, I am killing you’ – Pair jailed over violent Longford feud hit and run shooting

Thirty-three-year-old Jamie Dinnegan, Grian Ard, Longford miraculously sustained only bruising and “scrape like cuts” to his leg after he was struck at 60km/hr by a white Ford Transit van which had been driven by Michael Ward (33) Palace Crescent, Longford at Palace Crescent, Ardnacassa, Longford on January 24 2022.

Ward was later charged and pleaded guilty to careless driving causing serious bodily harm along with two summary road traffic offences after the van he was driving fled the scene. Dinnegan, meanwhile and his co-accused Noel Ward (26), Springlawn, Longford both pleaded guilty to counts of affray.

That came after gardaí had been called to a number of reports from members of the public to concerns of simmering hostilities between up to 30 members of the local travelling community.

The most urgent of those arrived at around 4:30pm when a number of 999 calls after eye witnesses observed an individual lying on the ground in the middle of the estate and possibly dead.

When gardaí, including members of the Armed Support Unit (ASU) arrived, they found Dinnegan stretched out on the ground in a vest and boxer shorts while being tended to by his wife and a number of others.

Giving evidence at a sitting of Longford Circuit Criminal Court, Detective Sgt Keelan Brennan said he spoke to two sisters-in-law of Dinnegan who said the car salesman had been struck by a van being driven by Michael Ward Jnr.

Dinnegan was later taken by ambulance to Mullingar’s Midland Regional Hospital for treatment but “miraculously”, the court heard, sustained no serious injuries.

The court heard details of how Dinnegan’s wife, Teresa had also later spoken to a sergeant, saying the driver of the van was a member of the Keenan family whom the Stokes’ had been at odds with.

A large-scale garda investigation followed resulting in 136 witness statements and over 80 exhibits.

Many of those testimonies told of how neighbours heard “screaming and shouting” in the lead up to the incident and sightings of masked men wielding weapons.

Several statements were also taken from members of the opposing Keenan and Stokes families, almost all of which were later withdrawn.

In one of the initial statements provided to gardaí, John Keenan Jnr told detectives of how he heard Dinnegan shout: “You’re dead, I am killing you, ye are leaving this place,” seconds before he was struck by the van.

Judge Kenneth Connolly was told that the feud had stemmed from a decision taken by a member of the Keenan family to stop short of standing in a photo with a member of the Stokes’ over the Christmas period.

“It was as simple as that,” said Det Sgt Brennan. “It was seen as an insult to the Stokes family and following that there were tit for tat incidents which led to people taking sides.”

Det Sgt Brennan said the episode led to a split between both families, a number of whom are related through marriage with heightening tensions leading to clamours for so-called “fair fights” between both factions.

“It (feud) followed on from that and I don’t believe to this day it has been totally settled,” he added.

Video footage of the incident, showing two separate clips, first of apparent gunfire and then Dinnegan being thrown into the air by the van as it sped off down Ardnacassa Avenue were also shown.

Gardaí later recovered the suspect vehicle parked up in the Oaklands area, a short distance away.

When questioned, the voluntary worker insisted the van had been stolen after he left his sole key in the ignition.

Counsel for the State, Shane Geraghty BL, however, said that narrative was “undermined” when a follow up search of Ward’s residence later retrieved two keys belonging to the vehicle.

The court was told Noel Ward, barring an offence for running a red light, was the only one of the trio to have an almost unblemished record with Michael Ward Jnr incurring 58 previous convictions, and Dinnegan 13.

Dinnegan’s defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC, said while there was no denying those statistics, the Longford man had never received a custodial sentence despite spending 84 days in custody arising out of the affray incident as he fought to secure High Court bail.

Mr Grehan accepted the incident had spiralled from the “most trivial matter possible” and asked the court to factor in his client’s early guilty plea and the fact there had been no subsequent incidents of violence involving both families in the interim.

Vincent Heneghan SC, for Michael Ward said the soon to be father of five had committed a “reckless act” and like Mr Grehan before him, implored the court to give added weight to his speedy tendering of a guilty plea.

Noel Ward’s defence counsel, John Shortt SC, described the incident and its fallout as “almost Shakesperian” in terms of its wide-ranging inter-familial repercussions and the ripple effects it has undoubtedly had on a town and county where ongoing feuds and public order skirmishes had “besmirched” its reputation.

He said Mr Ward’s decision to involve himself on the day in question had also come at a price, resulting in him resigning from his job with a locally based company due to people “constantly jibing him” over the adverse publicity the case had brought.

A letter penned by Ward and read out by Mr Shortt told of how the local carpenter had been left “ashamed” at becoming a “product of the environment” he “always fought to resist”.

He said: “I know saying sorry won’t take away the fear and embarrassment I have caused the decent people of Ardnacassa.

“It also won’t take away that I contributed to the bad reputation given to Longford over this incident and many others like it.”

Judge Connolly, in summing up his appraisal of the incident, said while he appreciated the Shakesperian reference offered up to explain its context, the only similarities he could find was that of the feuding Capulet and Montague families contained in the British playwright’s famous Romeo and Juliet tragedy.

“That won’t be tolerated in this court between the Keenans and the Stokes and if they think they are modern day Shakesperian characters, there is only one way they are going and that is directly to prison,” he told them.

Judge Connolly branded the rationale and fallout for the feud over a decision taken by one family member to opt against standing into a photograph as “utter nonsense” as he agreed with how incidents of its type had only served to sully the reputation of Longford town and its surrounding environs.

“It’s something I don’t understand and seems to be utterly ridiculous for grown adults to be behaving in that way,” he said, as he empathised with how feud related incidents had left a far-reaching imprint on society at large.

“The sheer unpleasantness for the people living in the Ardncassa estate and surrounding areas together with the fear of leaving your house, it must be simply dreadful to be afraid to walk out of your front door in the event one of these incidents is going to take off and you could be caught up in the middle of it,” he added.

He consequently sentenced Dinnegan to two years and two months in prison for affray, suspending the final eight months for a period of two years.

Judge Connolly said while Noel Ward played a “less culpable” role than his co-accused and despite his otherwise previous good character, a custodial sentence was something the court could not desist from.

He sentenced him to 19 months in prison, suspending the final five months for a period of 18 months and in doing so ordered both Dinnegan and Ward to have no association with firearms going forward.

Michael Ward Jnr, meanwhile, was remanded on bail to a sitting of Longford Circuit Criminal Court on November 5 for the purposes of a probation report.