A man was caught in possession of a sock containing four bullets hidden beneath decking in his back garden when gardaí searched his house for drugs, a court has heard.
Glen Synott (23) later told gardaí he had been out of breath and sweating when they arrived because he had been "having a wank".
Gardaí, who had been suspicious he was attempting to flee or hide something at the time, did not accept this explanation.
Synott of Carnlough Road, Cabra, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of firearm ammunition under suspicious circumstances in his home on February 2nd, 2016.
Judge Terrence O’Sullivan imposed a five-year custodial sentence which he suspended for a period of five years on strict conditions.
Garda Christopher Sweeney told Una Tighe BL, prosecuting, that he obtained a search warrant for the house Synott shares with his mother. When he entered he saw Synott in the hallway, out of breath and sweating heavily, and became suspicious.
A black sock containing four 9mm Makarov calibre rounds was found underneath the decking in the back garden. When question Synott admitted he had hidden the sock there.
Synott was arrested and taken to Finglas Garda Station. During an interview he said the bullets were not his though he did know what they were.
He said he had been asked to hold onto the bullets due to a drug debt of €200. He did not identify from whom he had received the bullets.
Brian Storan BL, defending, said that when gardaí asked if he had anything further to add to his statement, Synott had explained the reason he was sweaty when they entered was because he had been “having a wank”.
Garda Sweeney did not accept this explanation due to Synott being in the hallway when he entered the house. He said the explanation had been given in a “flippant manner”.
Synott has three previous convictions, two of which are public order and public decency convictions for urinating in public. The other conviction was for not wearing a crash helmet while a passenger on a motorbike.
Judge O’Sullivan accepted that it “would have been difficult for the DPP to secure conviction” had Synott not confessed to handling the sock as no DNA was found on the bullets.
He said the offence was at the “minor end of the scale”. The offence carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years imprisonment.
Judge O’Sullivan suspended the five-year sentence under the conditions that Synott remain drug free, engage with addiction services, submit to random urine analysis and keep all appointments with the probation service.