A man has been found guilty of conspiring to possess an explosive substance, a firearm and ammunition following a joint operation by the FBI and An Garda Síochána after they discovered an attempt to buy illegal items on the "darknet".
Thomas Bates, 51, of Abbey Street, Cahir, Co Tipperary, has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced in July after he was convicted by a jury at Clonmel Circuit Court of three charges which involved conspiring to possess a firearm, an explosive substance and ammunition sometime between 24 October and 10 November 2017 within the State.
He was found not guilty of possession of ammunition on 10 November 2017.
A two-week trial in the circuit court heard evidence from an FBI agent and a number of gardaí including members of the Special Detective Unit at Harcourt Square in Dublin.
The offences were detected after an unknown person not before the court, with the online persona of Snow4, attempted via the darknet to purchase illegal items and his activity was picked up by the FBI.
After contact was made by the bureau with the gardaí, a delivery was arranged to the address given by Snow4 and made via a garda, posing as a postman, to Thomas Bates's address but under the name "Tim Bates".
Thomas Bates was not Snow4.
The items sought by Snow4 included a Glock pistol, a hand grenade and several rounds of ammunition.
"These are very, very serious items and are not permitted by law [in Ireland]," Garnett Orange SC, prosecuting, said in his closing speech to the jury.
"Sometimes this type of offence can give rise to difficulties for the investigating authorities and they must take extraordinary measures to investigate and detect and ultimately to prosecute the perpetrators of these serious offences."
Those involved didn't realise until after 10 November 2017, that they were "dealing with an undercover operation," Mr Orange said.
Thomas Bates signed for three packages at 12.53pm on 10 November at his home and "there was no surprise" on his part to be receiving the items, Mr Orange said.
Upon receiving the delivery addressed to Tim Bates, the accused told the "postman," who was in fact a garda, that Tim Bates was his son and was in hospital.
"There was no Tim Bates, there was no Tim Bates in hospital," Mr Orange said. "They were two lies cooked up, like that."
When gardaí arrived on the scene there was a fire in the back garden and they found remnants of the packaging used in the delivery, while the items themselves were in a plastic bag at the gateway.
Later, messages were found from Snow4 saying "they landed bro, happy days, I'll have them this evening," and containing information that had to have come from a person who saw the packages.
"This would suggest that Thomas Bates, being the man who was in the house, was actively involved in opening the packages and observing the contents of same."
In garda interviews after his arrest, Thomas Bates denied taking any delivery of such items or starting any fire in the back.
Another accused, 34-year-old Nigel Gartland from Knocklofty Heights, Clonmel, Co Tipperary was found not guilty by direction of Judge Thomas Teehan.
All of the charges were brought under Section 27A of the Firearms Act 1964 and the Criminal Justice Act of 2006.
