Courts / Dublin / Report

10-year sentence over "lethal arsenal" of organised crime weapons

Date
2018-01-30

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

Two Dublin men, Jonathan Harding (45) and James Walsh (33), were sentenced to ten years and nine years in prison respectively for possessing a lethal arsenal of weapons, including nine revolvers, four pistols, a sub‑machine gun, an assault rifle, and various ammunition magazines. The weapons were discovered on 24 January 2017 at a unit in Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, which was presented as a logistics company. The men had pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court, and the judge noted that without the guilty pleas they would have received twelve‑year sentences. Harding had a prior six‑year drug‑related sentence in 2004; he received a ten‑year term with one year suspended. Walsh, with previous public‑order convictions, received a nine‑year term with one year suspended. The judge described the arsenal as "enormous potential for death and destruction" and a "lethal arsenal stored for the purpose of organised and very serious crime.".

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: 10-year sentence over "lethal arsenal" of organised crime weapons. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

January 24th Incident
January 24th, 2017 Hearing Or Sentence
2018-01-30 Publication

Case subjects

James Walsh

Convicted Person

Plea: Guilty

Jonathan Harding

Defendant

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Harding, who in 2004 he was sentenced to six years in prison for possession intending the sale or supply of drugs, was sentenced to ten years in prison with one year suspended.