Courts / Louth / Report

Firearms accused who told gardai he was doing a "wee message" is jailed

Date
2016-11-21

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dundalk

County
Louth

Summary

A 55‑year‑old Dundalk man, Joseph Finnegan, pleaded guilty to possession of an 8mm blank‑firing pistol, seven rounds of ammunition, a 12‑gauge double‑barrel shotgun, three shotgun cartridges, and a stolen Ford Focus. He admitted these offences on July 11‑12, 2015, at his Cullenstown, Readypenny address. During a Special Detective Unit investigation into IRA activity, Gardaí stopped the stolen car, found a black backpack containing a semi‑automatic pistol and ammunition, and later discovered more firearms and ammunition in his home. Finnegan claimed he was asked to do a "wee message" and feared for his life. The Special Criminal Court, presided over by Mr Justice Robert Eagar, sentenced him to five years' imprisonment for the firearms offences, five years for each ammunition offence, and two years for the stolen car, all to run concurrently and back‑dated to 7 November 2016, with one year suspended on the firearms sentence.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Firearms accused who told gardai he was doing a "wee message" is jailed. Charges or matters: two further possession charges, one involving a 12 gauge double barrel shotgun and the other three rounds of shotgun cartridges, both at the same address and on July 12th, 2015. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

July 11th, 2015 Incident
July 12th, 2015 Incident
July 11th Incident
April 2012 Incident
November 7th Incident
2016-11-21 Publication

Case subjects

Joseph Finnegan

Defendant

Charges: two further possession charges, one involving a 12 gauge double barrel shotgun and the other three rounds of shotgun cartridges, both at the same address and on July 12th, 2015 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Mr Justice Eagar sentenced Finnegan to six years in prison, with one year suspended, for the firearms offences, five years for each of the ammunition offences and two years for possession of the stolen Ford Focus.