Man who admitted having two firearms jailed for two years

Patrick Kennedy, 69, with an address at South Earl Street, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty i​n October at the Special Criminal Court​ to the unlawful possession of a .455 Colt model “New Service” revolver and a .455 Calibre Webley Mark 6 revolver bearing serial number 324736 at James’ Street, Dublin 8 on September 14, 2013.

The court has previously heard tha​t after receiving confidential information ​members of the IRA were going to transfer firearms on September 14, 2013, gardaí put in place a surveillance operation on the defendant and his co-accused Gary Yeung. ​

​In 2015, having pleaded guilty at the three-judge court to possessing the firearms, Yeung was jailed for five years, with three years suspended.​

​Yeung had travelled from Limerick to​ ​Dublin on the day in question​​ ​and was seen by gardaí on James St.

Kennedy approached Yeung​, who opened a satchel and handed the defendant a beige canvas bag with the logo LV. ​

​The defendant ​​then ​went into a pub​ and​ placed the bag at his feet​ before gardaí followed him in, searched the bag and found two firearms. ​

​A ballistics examination showed that one of the firearms was rusted but functional and that the other did not work.

Kennedy, who is married ​with​ two children,​ has three previous convictions, the most recent of which, for assault, dates back to 1978. ​

​Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding, sitting with Judge Patricia Ryan and Judge ​Ann Ryan​, said that the offence was at the lower end of the spectrum and that mitigating factors included the sentence imposed on ​the​ co-accused, ​Kennedy’s​ guilty plea​,​​ and that his offence may have been reckless rather than intentional.

The ​judges​ had paid particular attention to his age and medical condition​, ​Mr Justice Hunt​ said, adding that ​the court​ hoped the sentence would ​"​induce the accused to adopt a law-abiding way of life​"​ after release​.​

Kennedy ​was sentenced to two years in prison, backdated to November 13 last year.