A MAN was jailed for seven years by the Special Criminal Court yesterday for possession of guns at his home in Ballyfermot, Dublin, last year.
Paul Wells (29), an unemployed father of four, of O'Hogan Road, pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of two revolvers, a sawn-off shotgun, three sawn-off rifles and an air rifle on September 22nd last year.
He also pleaded guilty to possession of 217 rounds of assorted ammunition and to handling a Mazda car, knowing it to have been stolen, on the same date.
Det Garda Stephen Nalty said that gardai searched Wells's house and found a package wrapped in black plastic concealed in a heater outside the back door. When it was shown to Wells he said he had an air rifle, and then he brought the gardai to a child's bedroom where he said there were guns hidden under the floorboards'.
He removed the carpet and under a floorboard gardai found the guns and ammunition. They also found a car number plate which belonged to a green Mazda car which was parked in Wells's driveway. The car had been stolen in west Cork in 1994.
Det Garda Nalty said the shotgun had been stolen in Swords in June, 1994, two rifles were stolen in Cork and a rifle had been stolen in Cabinteely, Co Dublin.
He said that Wells had four previous convictions, including three for firearms offences.
Mr Justice Johnson, presiding, said that the court took into account Wells's previous convictions and the face that the guns had been sawn-off. The court sentenced him to seven years imprisonment on the guns and ammunition charges and to two years for handling the stolen car.