Tristan Sherry killing: Sisters describe ‘terrifying’ hail of gunfire during Christmas Eve steakhouse shooting

Two sisters have described to the Special Criminal Court the “terrifying” moments when they took shelter from a hail of gunfire at the busy steakhouse where they were working last Christmas Eve as a masked attacker shot a man dead before himself being beaten to death.
Adisa Ajredini told the court that she dragged her mother, who also worked at the steakhouse, under a table to shelter after hearing what she thought was machine gun fire. Her sister Amanda said she fled as she believed the gunman was going to shoot everyone in the restaurant.
The sisters were giving eyewitness testimony on Monday in the trial of three men accused of murdering gunman Tristan Sherry (26) and three others accused of violent disorder arising from the same incident. All the accused have pleaded not guilty.
In her opening speech last week, prosecution counsel Fiona Murphy SC said Jason Hennessy snr and a group of people had gathered at Browne’s Steakhouse in Blanchardstown on Christmas Eve. Sherry and a second man entered with their faces covered and hoods up and moved towards the party before Sherry shot and fatally wounded Mr Hennessy snr. Ms Murphy said Sherry was promptly disarmed and attacked by a group using “savage levels of violence” involving kicking, stamping and striking with various objects, including chairs.
Amanda Ajredini told Ms Murphy that she was working at the bar in Browne’s on Christmas Eve while her mother and sister were working on the floor. There was a large party of about 30 people booked into an area towards the back of the restaurant.
Shortly after the large party had begun to arrive, she remembered two people entering the restaurant. She focused on one of the men, who she said was “really tall” and wearing gloves and a balaclava. The only skin she could see was around his eyes.
She said she was “confused” and “didn’t know what to think”, but as the man walked past her, she noticed he was holding a gun behind his back. It wasn’t a pistol, she said, and he needed two hands to hold it.
She said she screamed: “Mam, mam, mam, he has a gun,” because she knew her mother was somewhere in the restaurant, but couldn’t see her. The witness said she closed her eyes and when she heard the gunshots she thought the gunman was going to shoot everyone, so she ran to the kitchen area.
Adisa Ajredini told Ms Murphy that she was working in the section where the large party had gathered. She saw a “tall and chubby” man wearing all black, with a balaclava over his face and his hood up, walking quickly with his hands behind his back, “almost like he was marching”. She knew from the way he was dressed that he was “there to hurt someone” and when she heard her sister shouting for their mother, she became afraid.
After she heard gunfire, she emerged from shelter and could see that the restaurant was “wrecked”. She noticed the man in black who had walked past her earlier lying on the ground surrounded by blood.
Three men are currently on trial charged with the murder of Tristan Sherry on December 24th, 2023 at Browne’s Steakhouse, Main Street, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15. They are Noah Musueni (18), Corduff Park, Blanchardstown; David Amah (18), Hazel Grove, Portrane Road, Donabate, Dublin; and Michael Andrecut (22), Sheephill Avenue, Blanchardstown. Jonas Kabangu (18), Corduff Park, Blanchardstown and 18-year-old Diarmuid O’Brien of Corduff Place, Blanchardstown, are charged with violent disorder at the same location on that date. Brandon Hennessy (21), of Sheephill Avenue, Dublin 15 – the son of Jason Hennessy snr – is also charged with violent disorder. All the accused have pleaded not guilty.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo, Judge Elma Sheahan and Judge James Faughnan.