A Limerick teenager who stored guns and ammunition in a hole in the base of his bed has been jailed for six years.
Kevin Noonan (18) Pineview Gardens, Moyross, pleaded guilty to possession of a Beretta sawn-off shotgun for an unlawful purpose at Pineview Gardens on January 18th last.
The 18-year-old also pleaded guilty to possession of a Colt .45 calibre automatic handgun and possession of 41 shotgun cartridges for an unlawful purpose on the same date.
Limerick Circuit Court heard the automatic handgun had been used in a shooting incident in the Pineview Gardens area the night before it was seized by gardaí at Noonan's home.
The weapon had also been used in two other Moyross shootings and in a separate incident in Clondalkin in Dublin last year, the court heard.
The State accepted that the 18-year-old had no part in any of the shootings, but acted as a "store man" for "sinister and dangerous individuals" who were using the weapons.
Judge Carroll Moran was told the sawn-off shotgun was loaded when it was recovered with the other items in a hole in the base of Noonan's bed.
After he was arrested, the teenager refused to tell gardaí who owned the guns.
The 18-year-old admitted storing the weapons but denied using them.
Defence counsel Brian McInerney told the court that his client had an alcohol problem and he was used by sinister and dangerous individuals who would "have thrown him a few euro to get drunk".
Mr McInerney said his client did not identify the people who owned the guns out of fear for his own safety and the safety of his family.
The defence counsel described this fear as legitimate.
He added that it "wouldn't cost these people a thought to assassinate him and his family".
Before imposing sentence, the judge said he accepted that Noonan was not involved in the shootings but said the defendant could be considered as an "accessory" because he was storing the weapons.
"Anybody who looks after guns used in shootings has to be regarded as having a high degree of culpability," said the judge.
He said the case was as "serious as it gets" and jailed the 18-year-old for six years.