Courts / Armagh / Report
Boss of gun-running ring smuggling assault rifles into Ireland gets 12 years
Summary
Mark McCourt (34) of Edenreive, Newry, Co Down, was sentenced by the Special Criminal Court today. Having pleaded guilty in July to participating in a criminal organisation's efforts to import restricted weapons between February 2023 and July 2024, and possessing firearms, McCourt was jailed for 12 years for arms smuggling. This sentence was based on a 15-year headline term, reduced by 20% for his early guilty plea. He was concurrently sentenced to 10 years on four firearms possession charges, reduced from 12.5 years on the same basis. The remaining 20 counts on the indictment were taken into account. The court noted McCourt was caught red-handed with military-grade weapons, including parts for six assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition seized in a Co Louth raid. Det Insp Shane McCartan stated McCourt controlled the importation of firearms components from the USA for reassembly and distribution. McCourt's jail term has been backdated to his arrest on 19 July 2024. The report also notes a separate conviction for criminal damage, where McCourt was jailed for three years, with 18 months suspended, for ramming an off-duty garda's car. No adjournments were recorded; the matter was finalised with sentencing.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Boss of gun-running ring smuggling assault rifles into Ireland gets 12 years. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- February 2023 Incident
- July 2024 Incident
- 19 July 2024 Incident
- 24 May 2024 Incident
- May 2023 Hearing Or Sentence
- 10 February 2023 Incident
- 2025-11-03 Publication
Why: "If they get damp, they won't fire, that's why you see boys there and they're misfiring, because the gunpowder in the bullet is damp," McCourt wrote. CNI source report
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Mark McCourt (34) of Edenreive, Newry, Co Down, was sentenced by the Special Criminal Court today, having pleaded guilty in July participation in a criminal organisation's efforts to import restricted weapons between February 2023 and July 2024, and possession of firearms. Det Insp McCartan said McCourt was jailed for three years, with 18 months suspended, on foot of a conviction for a criminal damage incident in which he had gone to the home address of an off-duty garda at 2.55am and "rammed" her car.
Accused
Outcome: At a sentence hearing in July, Det Insp McCartan said that McCourt had already been identified in connection with the suspected importation of firearms when the defendant was arrested for something else on 24 May 2024 and had his phone seized. Det Insp McCartan said McCourt was jailed for three years, with 18 months suspended, on foot of a conviction for a criminal damage incident in which he had gone to the home address of an off-duty garda at 2.55am and "rammed" her car.
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