TWO MEN have been jailed for conspiring to procure weapons including rocket launchers, semi-automatic rifles, sub-machine guns and semi-automatic pistols for a criminal gang running its business from prison.
Glen Geasley (27), Innishmore Drive, Ballincollig, Co Cork, was sentenced to 12 years in jail with five years suspended, while Seán Callinan (21), Pearse Park, Tullamore, Co Offaly, was jailed for six years with three years suspended.
At the start of the trial, the prosecution had said the weapons were intended for the Dundon gang in Limerick to wage war on their enemies in a feud in the city.
Both men had gone on trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court after denying three charges of conspiracy with others to possess weaponry and one charge of attempting to possess the weaponry all between February 22nd and April 20th, 2007.
However, yesterday both men asked to be rearraigned and pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiring with others to possess the firearms in such circumstances as to give rise to a reasonable inference that such possession was not for lawful purpose.
The men's change of plea came on the 11th day of the trial and followed legal argument where Judge Patrick Moran found in favour of the prosecution and ruled that covert video and audio recordings were admissible.
Det Chief Supt Tony Quilter yesterday outlined the background to the case. He told how gardaí had received intelligence that an Irish criminal gang was trying to procure weapons.
Gardaí were authorised by Assistant Commissioner Nacie Rice to enlist the assistance of the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency.
Geasley travelled to Britain on February 21st, 2007. The next day he met two undercover crime agency agents, John and Raj, who represented themselves as arms traffickers at a meeting at railway arch warehouse in London which was secretly filmed and recorded by British police.
Geasley "represented himself as an agent of a criminal organisation based in this country, running their empire from Irish prisons", said Det Chief Supt Quilter.
He said that Geasley was shown the weaponry on a laptop and given phone numbers to contact the undercover police agents.
Following several phone calls, a meeting was organised between one of the police agents and a member of the criminal gang in prison and an agreement was reached by the gang to buy 24 weapons for an agreed price of £45,000 (€59,700).
The two crime agency agents travelled to Cork on April 19th where they were briefed by Det Chief Supt Quilter and contact was made the next day with Geasley, who met police agent Raj at the Rochestown Park Hotel.
Meanwhile, Det Insp Kevin Brooks of the Garda ballistics unit had given the Emergency Response Unit a quantity of weapons which had been seized from paramilitaries during the Troubles in the North.
These weapons were brought to the car park of the Ibis Hotel in Cork under tight security.
The haul included two RPG 7 rocket launchers, five AKM assault rifles, five AR 15 semi-automatic assault rifles, two Uzi sub-machine guns, three 9mm Smith & Wessons, two 9mm Brownings and five 9mm Sig Saurs semi-automatic pistols.
The weapons were put in a van with surveillance equipment. The British police agent John met Callinan and had just showed him the firearms when members of the emergency response unit moved in and arrested him. Simultaneously other Garda officers arrested Geasley and seized the cash in Rochestown.
At the same time, gardaí raided two prison cells and seized a number of mobile phones which had been used by the criminal gangs to direct Geasley who, Det Chief Supt Quilter agreed with defence counsel Pádraig Dwyer, was under the influence of other people.
Although no criminal gang was identified yesterday by Det Chief Supt Quilter, Tom O'Connell SC, prosecuting, in opening the State's case said the weaponry was intended for the Dundon gang in Limerick.
Judge Moran said Geasley had sought to procure weapons for a criminal gang and that was a serious matter. However his guilty plea had saved considerable effort in terms of calling Garda witnesses as well as providing high security for the trial. He sentenced Geasley to 12 years with five suspended.
Judge Moran noted that Callinan was a lesser figure in the operation and sentenced him to six years in jail with three suspended, to take account of his guilty plea and his relative youth.
