A man who was caught in possession of shotgun parts that were incapable of being put together and fired has been jailed for two years.
Lawyers for Paul Keating (25) told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that the firearms were “tools of a very dangerous industry” and were “not going to be used as props in a film”.
The court heard that gardaí discovered the broken up parts of a firearm at his home during a search for cocaine and that the accused had agreed to hold the parts in exchange for a reduction of a drug debt.
Keating of Brookhaven Grove, Blanchardstown, Dublin, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of firearms at his home on October 27th, 2017.
Passing sentence today, Judge Elma Sheahan said that Keating had a drug debt of €2,000 which was decreased by €1,000 in exchange for him agreeing to hold the firearm. She said he has since paid off the remainder of the debt with the help of family.
Judge Sheahan said the accused had the gun in his possession between February 2017 and October 2017 and that he never attempted to fire it during this period.
She said he had self-reported to the Probation Service that he had not come to garda attention since the offence, but that was evidently not true as he has been convicted of road traffic and theft matters which postdate this offence.
Judge Shehan sentenced Keating to three years imprisonment, but suspended the final 12 months of the sentence on strict conditions.
Drug debt
At a previous sentencing hearing, a garda detective told the court that she went to the house on a drugs search looking for cocaine.
She said that during the search she and colleagues found broken up parts of a firearm. She said she knew that a lot of young people end up agreeing to store parts of guns to pay off drug debts.
“I believe he was under pressure at the time,” she said.
Judge Sheehan noted that there was no evidence of a difficult or misspent youth and told Keating he should be ashamed of his actions.
Keith Spencer BL, defending, said the firearm parts were in poor condition and incapable of firing. The components found were not capable of being put together to produce a firearm that was viable.
Judge Sheahan told counsel that his client did not seem to have any insight into the situation he found himself in in court.
Mr Spencer submitted Keating was aware of the seriousness of the offence.
“These are the tools of a very dangerous industry. They are not going to be used as props in films,” he said. He told the court that his client was now clean from drug use.
