Seven year sentence for possessing sub machine gun

A man linked to convicted criminal Cornelius Price was sentenced to seven years at Trim Circuit Court today (Wed) for possessing a sub machine gun found during a garda search near Price's home in Co Meath last year.

Stephen Gibbons (57) Rockleigh House Richardstown Gormanston Co Meath who had denied a charge of unlawfully possessing a 9mm Makarov PM-63 RAK sub machine on or about 15th Jan 2020 at Richardstown Gormanston Co Meath was convicted following a trial earlier this month.

Prosecuting counsel Carl Hanahoe BL had told the court that two members of the Garda Armed Response Unit had been on patrol in the Laytown - Gormanston area that night and as they drove down a 250 metre lane leading to Rockleigh House they met the defendant who lived in a semi mobile home at Rockleigh House walking in the opposite direction at 8.45 pm.

According to Gda Hugh Coughlan who was the observer in the patrol car the defendant gave them his name and said he was 'out just stretching his legs as he was stiff'.

The gardai continued to the entrance of a compound at Rockleigh House turned the patrol car and passed the defendant who was now walking towards the house.

The two gardai returned to the laneway just under an hour later and again encountered the defendant.

On this occasion he said he was out looking for his dog which had run off.

Garda Brian Kearney who had been driving the patrol car told the court he saw no sign of a dog on the night

The gardai said the defendant who was wearing waterproof over trousers appeared surprised and nervous and they searched him under the misuse of drugs act.

After that the defendant returned to his house while the gardai conducted a search of the area which ended almost two hours later when they found a sub machine gun and a jar containing ammunition in a black bin bag in the ditch near the entrance to the laneway.

Garda ballistics expert detective Shane Curran told the court the sub machine which dated from 1945 was coated in a thick lubricant and was serviceable but two discharged bullets were blocking the barrel and there was no evidence to suggest it had recently been discharged.

The detective said that after he fitted a replacement barrel to the weapon it was capable of both semi automatic and fully automatic fire.

The court heard that DNA from a hair found on the weapon was one thousand million times more likely to have come from Stephen Gibbons than from anyone else.

Det garda Padraig O'Rourke told the court when questioned by gardai about the arms find Gibbons denied knowing anything about the gun or ammunition saying he did not possess a gun or like weapons as he 'got shot with a pellet gun' when he was young.

When shown a picture of the firearm and ammunition found in the ditch he replied that he 'had never seen them before'

Following the guilty verdict Gibbons was remanded in custody and a later hearing was told by detective O'Rourke that Gibbons had come to Ireland from Rochdale 15 years ago.

He said that Gibbons had been married to an aunt of Cornelius Price and although the marriage had broken down he had remained living at Price's compound near Gormanston.

The court heard Gibbons had 29 previous convictions imposed by magistrates courts in the UK and two district court convictions in this country including a one month sentence for trying to smuggle a mobile phone into Wheatfield prison.

Questioned about the defendant's previous convictions the detective told defence barrister Garnet Orange SC that he did not believe they reflected Gibbons 'overall involvement in criminality'.

The barrister said his client intended to return to Rochdale to look after his elderly mother once he had served his sentence.

At today's sentence hearing Judge Martina Baxter identified as an aggravating factor the association of such a firearm with organised criminality and imposed a sentence of seven years backdated to 29th April last year when Gibbons was arrested .

Judge Baxter also expressed her appreciation on behalf of society at large for the speed of the garda investigation after their suspicions had been aroused following their encounter with Gibbons on the night in question.