A Sligo-born man who was convicted of possession of a gun with intent to endanger life during a gun attack at a funeral in the county two years ago has been jailed for five years.
On February 21st last Martin McDonagh (29), of Cherry Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, was convicted of possessing a Browning pistol with intent to endanger life at the funeral of Patrick Ward in Carrownanty, Ballymote, Co Sligo, on May 10th, 1999.
The jury acquitted him of the attempted murder of Edward Ward and disagreed over verdicts on the murder of Patrick "Deuce" Ward, the attempted murder of Patrick "Jaws" Ward snr and the attempted murder of "Jaws Paddy" Ward jnr.
McDonagh's sentence was backdated to May 14th, 1999, the date of his arrest.