A 23-year-old man has had his sentencing adjourned at the Special Criminal Court after he was caught in possession of and firing military weapons.
Eric O'Driscoll pleaded guilty last year to possession of a .223 calibre Remington AR-15 semi-automatic rifle at an address in Finglas on 9 January 2022 in circumstances giving rise to the reasonable inference that he did not have it for a lawful purpose.
He was also charged with reckless discharge of a firearm and possession of a .380 ACP calibre military Ingram M11 submachine gun, which the Special Criminal Court took in to account
Gardaí searched a house in Finglas in Dublin in February 2022 and discovered a .223 calibre Remington AR-15 semi-automatic rifle along with a military grade sub-machine gun and ammunition.
Detective Inspector Dara Kenny said the guns were in good condition and were successfully fired by a garda ballistics examiner.
Four months later in June 2022 in an "unrelated incident" gardaí searched a taxi on the Tolka Valley Road and found a bank card in O'Driscoll's name and a phone that they were later able to connect to the defendant.
Inspector Kenny said analysts found a video clip on the phone in which O'Driscoll could be seen taking the rifle from another man and firing it from the rear of a house in Finglas.
O'Driscoll has three previous convictions for public order offences and has been in custody since January 2024 and has been on 23-hour lockup for the past nine months.
While in prison he overheard a killing in a cell next to his own and saw the dead body the following morning.
Ms Justice Melanie Greally said today O'Driscoll had been "very forthcoming in his interaction with the probation service" and adjourned sentencing until April
