A NEPHEW of murdered Limerick crime boss Kieran Keane has been jailed for 10 years for having a loaded semi-automatic firearm in his possession less than three weeks after he was released from prison.
Liam Keane (24), Singland Gardens, Ballysimon, Limerick, was wearing latex gloves when he was found with a 9mm Parabellum Glock pistol and 13 rounds of ammunition in Limerick city on May 4th last.
He had been released from prison just 17 days before he was stopped by the Emergency Response Unit while driving a stolen Mazda RX5.
Gardaí found the gun, which was loaded and ready for use, in the footwell at the front passenger side of the car.
Keane pleaded guilty at the Circuit Criminal Court in Limerick last month to possession of the firearm and 13 rounds of ammunition for an unlawful purpose at Athlunkard Road, Corbally, Limerick.
Greg Crawford, St Munchin’s Street, St Mary’s Park, Limerick, who was a front-seat passenger in the car pleaded guilty to the same charges.
Before jailing both men for 10 years yesterday, Judge Carroll Moran said he had to take into account the position of the gun in the car and the fact that it was ready for “immediate use”.
The judge said he also had to take into account evidence from the State that the accused men were in possession of the gun for a “serious and sinister purpose of an immediate nature”.
Both men were wearing gloves when they were stopped by gardaí and Keane was wearing latex gloves which could be used to “frustrate the gathering of forensic evidence”, said Judge Moran.
He described this as an aggravating factor in the case, along with evidence that the gun, had been used in a previous incident in which a man was shot at 14 times.
Judge Moran said there was nothing to suggest that the accused men were involved in this incident, but said the gun was linked to a well-known Limerick feud that had resulted in the loss of a number of lives.
Keane was also jailed for three years yesterday after pleading guilty to possession of a stolen car.
Judge Moran ordered that this sentence run concurrently to the 10-year jail term imposed for the firearm charge.
Keane, who has almost 50 previous convictions, is the son of Christy Keane who is due for release next month after he was jailed for 10 years in 2002 for possession of drugs,
His uncle Kieran Keane, a well-known Limerick crime figure was shot dead in a gangland shooting in Limerick in January 2003.
Keane dramatically walked free from a murder trial at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin in November 2003 after several prosecution witnesses denied making statements to gardaí identifying him as the killer of Eric Leamy (19).
Keane had denied the murder at Lee Estate, Limerick, in August 2001.
He made headlines for his two-fingered salute following the collapse of the murder trial.