Two cousins from Limerick city have been jailed for seven years for carrying out a drive-by shooting using a machine gun.
Judge Carroll Moran handed down the sentence to Ross Cantillon (20) of St Mary's Park and Roy Woodland (20) of Canon Breen Park for the attack in which they shot 11 rounds of ammunition from a Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle.
The court was told a nine-year-old boy narrowly escaped injury when the volley was fired at a house in Moyross in Limerick city on August 23rd, 2002.
The accused said the attack was aimed at "scaring" 'Fat' John McCarthy, who claimed in court he had become a target in the city's much-publicised feuding since his uncle, Eddie Ryan, was murdered in a Limerick pub in November 2000.
Both Woodland and Cantillon claimed in court they were ordered to carry out the shooting by powerful crime figures involved in the feuding.
Mr McCarthy told the court the he dived for cover when he saw the accused round the corner outside his house in a stolen car with a gun sticking out the window. Some the bullets fired, he said, missed his nine-year-old son, David, by inches.
Both Woodland and Cantillon have victims of the crime-family feuding, the court heard. Woodland's leg was amputated after he was shot and he was stabbed in the head in a separate incident.
Cantillon sustained two perforated lungs in a stabbing incident. All three attacks were connected to the feud, the court heard.
In passing sentence, Judge Moran noted the defendants had changed their pleas to guilty during the trial. He also accepted there was no attempt to kill.
The men were convicted of possession of a gun and ammunition; and unlawful possession of a car.
A 12-year sentence with the last five years suspended was imposed. Leave to appeal was refused.