Courts / Louth / Report
Belfast man jailed for possession of Guinness keg bomb
Summary
William Burns, a 40-year-old Belfast man, was sentenced at the Special Criminal Court to seven years in prison, with three years suspended, after pleading guilty to the unlawful possession of explosive devices. The charges related to an incident at Kilcurry Church, Co Louth, on May 25, 2014, where police recovered PETN, RDX, an adapted 50-litre beer keg, 50kg of ammonium nitrate, and improvised detonation components. Burns admitted to the offence, and the court accepted he played a comparatively minor role in the enterprise. In related proceedings, David Gallagher pleaded guilty to the same offence and was sentenced to eight years in prison, with two years suspended. Gareth Mulley was tried, convicted, and sentenced to ten years in prison. During the sentencing hearing, Chief Superintendent Tom Maguire detailed how Mulley and Gallagher drove a white Peugeot van to a carpark off the N1, where Burns arrived in a red Volkswagen Passat. An improvised explosive device was moved from the van into Burns' vehicle before Emergency Response Unit members intercepted the group. Judge Alison Lindsay, presiding with Mr Justice Paul Butler and Judge Cormac Dunne, noted Burns' guilty plea and status as a good family man as mitigating factors. The sentence was backdated to July 17th.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Belfast man jailed for possession of Guinness keg bomb. Charges or matters: the unlawful possession of the explosive substances PETN (Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate) and RDX (cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine), an adapted 50 litre beer keg, 50 kg of ammonium nitrate homemade explosive, an improvised detonation cord, an improvised steel booster tube and an improvised time and power unit at Kilcurry Church, Co Louth on May 25th, 2014; the offence and was sentenced to eight years in prison, with two suspended. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- May 25th, 2014 Incident
- July 17th Other
- 2016-07-29 Publication
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: the offence and was sentenced to eight years in prison, with two suspended (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: At today's sentence hearing, Chief Superintendent Tom Maguire told prosecuting counsel Paul Greene SC that, on the evening of the offence, Mulley and Gallagher drove a white Peugeot van to a carpark off the N1, the old main road from Dublin to Belfast, before Burns drove a red Volkswagen Passat, with a Northern Ireland registration, into the same carpark.
Defendant
Charges: the unlawful possession of the explosive substances PETN (Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate) and RDX (cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine), an adapted 50 litre beer keg, 50 kg of ammonium nitrate homemade explosive, an improvised detonation cord, an improvised steel booster tube and an improvised time and power unit at Kilcurry Church, Co Louth on May 25th, 2014; the offence and was sentenced to eight years in prison, with two suspended (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: At today's sentence hearing, Chief Superintendent Tom Maguire told prosecuting counsel Paul Greene SC that, on the evening of the offence, Mulley and Gallagher drove a white Peugeot van to a carpark off the N1, the old main road from Dublin to Belfast, before Burns drove a red Volkswagen Passat, with a Northern Ireland registration, into the same carpark. Burns was sentenced to seven years in prison, with three years suspended.
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