Man who admitted having two guns in Dublin jailed for two years

A man who acted as courier for two guns in Dublin has been jailed for two years.

Patrick Kennedy (69), with an address at South Earl Street, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty in October at the Special Criminal Court to the unlawful possession of a .455 Colt model "New Service" revolver and a .455 Calibre Webley Mark VI revolver at James Street, Dublin 8 on September 14th, 2013.

The court has previously heard that after receiving confidential information that members of the IRA were going to transfer firearms on September 14th, 2013, gardaí put in place a surveillance operation on the defendant and his co-accused Gary Yeung.

In 2015, having pleaded guilty at the three-judge court to possessing the firearms, Yeung was jailed for five years, with three years suspended.

Yeung had travelled from Limerick to Dublin on the day in question and was seen by gardaí on James Street.

Kennedy approached Yeung, who opened a satchel and handed the defendant a beige canvas bag with the logo LV.

The defendant then went into a pub and placed the bag at his feet before gardaí followed him in, searched the bag and found two firearms.

A ballistics examination showed that one of the firearms was rusted but functional and that the other did not work.

Kennedy, who is married with two children, has three previous convictions, the most recent of which, for assault, dates back to 1978.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding, sitting with Judge Patricia Ryan and Judge Ann Ryan, said the offence was at the lower end of the spectrum and that mitigating factors included the sentence imposed on the co-accused, Kennedy's guilty plea, and that his offence may have been reckless rather than intentional.

The judges had paid particular attention to his age and medical condition, Mr Justice Hunt said, adding that the court hoped the sentence would “induce the accused to adopt a law-abiding way of life” after release.

Kennedy was sentenced to two years in prison, backdated to November 13th last year.