Men tried to buy rocket launchers for Limerick gangs, court hears
Two men were put on trial in Cork today for engaging in a conspiracy to acquire rocket launchers and Kalashnikovs to further a "war" in Limerick.
A jury was told of a Cork man travelling to London believing he was meeting arms dealers in a warehouse but was actually being met by undercover agents.
A video of this meeting will be shown to the seven men and five women of the jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court during a trial that is expected to take up to three weeks.
Tom O’Connell senior counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions made these claims as he opened the case against Glen Geasley and Sean Callinan before Judge Patrick J. Moran, adding, “Mr Geasley said he needed all the weapons for a war in Limerick between Wayne’s people and their enemies.”
Glen Geasley (aged 27), of 10 Innishmore Drive, Ballincollig, County Cork and Seán Callinan (aged 21), of 11 Pearse Park, Tullamore, County Offaly, both pleaded not guilty to each of four charges, notably conspiring with others between February 22 and April 20, 2007 to commit crime, namely possessing the arms and ammunition with intent to enable others to endanger life or cause serious injury to property.
The 24 weapons included two RPG rocket launchers, five AKM assault rifles (commonly known as AK47s), and two Uzi machine guns.
Mr O’Connell said gardaí discovered that a criminal gang in Limerick were shopping for weapons so the guards approached Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) in the UK who organise covert operations using undercover agents.
The senior counsel said two undercover SOCA agents using cover names, John and Raj, had a meeting in London with the accused Glen Geasley.
“Mr Geasley referred to himself as John throughout his contact with the undercover contacts. He said he was representing Wayne Dundon,” he said.
What began with the London meeting was followed with a meeting in Wheatfield Prison and telephone contacts and resulted in the endgame meeting and arrests in Cork two months later when Geasley had Tommy Hilfiger bag containing £45,000 (€60,600) in cash at Rochestown Park Hotel and Callinan was arrested by the Emergency Response Unit as he began to examine munitions in the back of the van at the Ibis Hotel car park.
