Ryan Kelly awaits sentence for gun possession at Special Criminal Court

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

Ryan Kelly pleaded guilty to possession of a Smith and Wesson gun with five rounds of ammunition on 21 November 2021. The proceedings were reported on 8 April 2024. Mr Justice Paul Burns said the Special Criminal Court would sentence him in two weeks.

The report said Kelly had been seen hiding the revolver in a hedge across the road from his home. When a taxi arrived, he retrieved the gun, wrapped in a blue cloth, and dropped it into the taxi. Gardaí later found it in the passenger footwell.

The taxi was driven away by his co-accused, Anthony Walker, who had also pleaded guilty and was to be sentenced at a later date. Walker was arrested after an armed intervention stopped the taxi near the M50.

Defence counsel Brendan Grehan said Kelly had had time to reflect and wanted to express deep remorse for getting involved. He said Kelly was the youngest person in the car in which he was arrested and had family and other support. Detective Garda John Rourke said Kelly had nine previous convictions for road traffic and public order offences but had never been in prison.