Teenager sentenced to five years, partly suspended, for gun and drug offences
This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.
An 18-year-old Dubliner has been sentenced to five years in prison, with the final one year and four months suspended, for a shotgun offence. The sentence leaves three years and eight months to serve.
Ms Justice Karen O’Connor imposed the sentence at the Special Criminal Court on 7 July 2025. It will run consecutively to the sentence he was already serving for violent disorder, bringing his total time in custody to five years. The teenager cannot be named because he was a minor when he came before the courts.
He had previously pleaded guilty to offences committed at Tolka Valley Park, Blanchardstown, on 7 and 8 May 2024. The charges included possession of a side-by-side shotgun, cannabis and diamorphine for sale or supply, and Phenacetin connected to a drug trafficking offence. He was also charged with possessing 15 rounds of Makarov ammunition and ten shotgun cartridges.
The judge imposed concurrent sentences of 20 months for the Phenacetin offence, 18 months for the cannabis offence and three years and four months for the diamorphine offence. A nolle prosequi was entered on a charge of possessing cannabis, diamorphine, cocaine and ketamine worth at least €13,000 for sale or supply. All other charges were taken into consideration.
The court heard that an undercover drugs unit observed the teenager digging on 7 May. Gardaí found a shotgun and packages containing drugs nearby; ammunition and more drugs were found the following morning. Gardaí said he was acting at the behest of the Hennessy criminal gang.
The judge noted his guilty pleas and that he was 17 and under the influence of older people at the time. She also cited the gun, ammunition, drugs and organised-crime connection as aggravating factors.
After release, he must enter a €100 bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years, remain under Probation Service supervision for 24 months and engage in offence-related and victim work. The judge warned that a breach of the conditions would mean serving the full sentence.
He was on bail for the separate violent-disorder charge when he committed the park offences. He was subsequently convicted over the violence at Browne’s Steakhouse on Christmas Eve 2023 and was serving 28 months, with the final 12 months suspended.