Niamh Fitzpatrick jailed for possessing firearm

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Niamh Fitzpatrick was sentenced to five years in prison, with the final two years suspended, for possessing a firearm. The proceedings were reported on 4 July 2018.

Fitzpatrick pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing a Smith & Wesson revolver in an air vent at her Ringsend home on 23 February 2017.

Fitzpatrick told gardaí she had the gun for her own protection because of a threat to her life. Garda Michelle Fitzpatrick told an earlier sentence hearing that colleagues had served her with forms notifying her of a threat to her life. The garda agreed with defence counsel Keith Spencer that there had been a threat against Fitzpatrick, but it had expired.

Mr Spencer submitted that Fitzpatrick had been abducted from her flat and violently attacked by a person who had since died. He said she suffered from profound post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.

Judge Melanie Greally said Fitzpatrick’s explanation for how she came into possession of the gun was not credible. The judge took account of her efforts to address heroin addiction and her mental health issues. She suspended the final two years of the sentence on condition that Fitzpatrick remain under probation supervision for 18 months after her release.