Man told brother he’d just shot their father

A 33-year-old son seriously wounded his father when he shot him twice at close range in 2012 – before returning to the family home to tell his brother what he’d done.

The Inquest into the death of Thomas Biggins, which was held at Galway Courthouse on Thursday was told that neither injury had been immediately fatal.

And Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin, Coroner for West Galway, said that nobody had ever been convicted of the murder, by reason of insanity.

Thomas Biggins (70) of Wallpark, Headford, died on May 6, 2012 from shock and haemorrhage, due to a shotgun injury.

His son, Noel, told the inquiry that as he walked across the fields to his family home that same afternoon he saw his brother, John, with a gun in his hand – which belonged to their father.

He assumed that John was shooting geese, which would have been unusual, and he mentioned it to his parents when he got into the house.

“My father went out to him, and ten or fifteen minutes later, John came to the back door,” he recalled.

“I saw the shaft of the gun beside me, he tapped it off my shoulder and said: ‘I shot the auld lad’. I took the gun off him and broke it up.”

Noel Biggins ran outside to discover his father in a very serious condition. He was rushed to University Hospital Galway, but was pronounced dead at 3.35pm. He added that he got on “mighty” with his father, whom he helped out on the family farm.

State pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, carried out a post mortem examination the following day. She noted two shot gun injuries, one below Mr Biggins’ ribcage and the second to his hand. The first had ruptured major blood vessels, and he had consequently lost a significant quantity of blood.

“There was extensive damage to his hand, but it was not life-threatening,” she stated.

“He was shot from a range of several feet. Neither (wound) was immediately fatal, and he would have been capable of some movement afterwards… A healthy individual would have succumbed without immediate surgical intervention.”

Dr MacLoughlin noted that while a person had been charged with the murder, he was never convicted, as he was deemed unfit to plea.

“This does not make it lawful,” he told the jury.

“It is unlawful, but it is up to you to return that verdict – all I can do is advise you. You have to take into account the mental state of the accused.”

The jury returned after a few minutes with a unanimous verdict of unlawful killing. Dr MacLoughlin then returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence.

He asked the solicitor for the Biggins family to pass on his sincere sympathies to Mrs Biggins and family.

“To lose your father in such circumstances, and the tragic way it happened, was tragic for you all as well,” he added.

The Biggins family expressed their thanks to the hospital chaplin, Fr David Cribbin; to Dr Martina Rea, a GP in Headford, who attended the scene of the shooting; to the ambulance crew and Sgt Helena Hastings, and to their neighbours.