Loaded handgun found in car which was stopped by Limerick gardai

TWO Limerick men were stopped by gardai in a car which was found to contain a loaded handgun, two cans of petrol, clothing and some cocaine, the Special Criminal Court has heard.

The non-jury court is also to hear evidence that one of the accused, Paul Whelan, 25, was wearing a "double set of clothing".

John O'Donoghue, 29, with an address at Cliona Park, Moyross, Limerick and Mr Whelan of Dalgaish Park, also in Moyross have pleaded not guilty to possession of a 9mm Colt, semi-automatic pistol with intent to endanger life at Park Road, Corbally on July 30, 2018.

Opening the prosecution case this Thursday, Dominic McGinn SC told the three-judge court that the issue in the case is “intention rather than possession”.

There will be evidence, Mr McGinn said, that gardai stopped Mr O’Donoghue and Mr Whelan in an Alfa Romeo car at Park Road in Corbally on July 30 at 11.50pm.

Mr O’Donoghue was the driver of the vehicle and Mr Whelan was in the front passenger seat, he indicated. 

The court heard there will be further evidence that the garda stop involved a number of “different garda vehicles” and the Alfa Romeo car had “rammed” one of the garda cars in order to evade arrest.

Gardai found a loaded handgun, two cans of petrol, a glove and some cocaine in the footwell of the front passenger seat, said Mr McGinn.

Counsel said the court will also hear that a mobile phone was recovered from the front passenger seat and “a complete change of clothing” was found in the rear of the car.

The barrister told the three judges that they will hear evidence that Mr Whelan was found to be wearing “a double set of clothing”, one of which had latex gloves inside the pocket.

Mr McGinn explained that the firearm was examined by ballistics and was found to be loaded with eight rounds of ammunition.

Both men were arrested at the scene, he added.

The prosecution’s contention is that the circumstances of the garda stop combined with other items in the car – including a handgun, two cans of petrol, a glove and a change of clothing – are enough for the court to draw an inference that there was an intention to endanger life, submitted Mr McGinn.

Giving evidence, Detective Sergeant Nigel McInaw told the court that he was given information that a silver Alfa Romeo car might be travelling in the area on the night.

Det Sgt McInaw said he was travelling in the front passenger seat of an Audi Q7 with three of his colleagues when he saw the Alfa Romeo car pass in front of them. 

The blue lights belonging to the Audi Q7 were activated and they drove behind the Alfa Romeo, explained the witness.

The Alfa Romeo car came to an embankment and failed to stop before it met another garda vehicle, namely a BMW X5, said Det Sgt McInaw, adding that the Alfa Romeo car then reversed and “went into” the Audi Q7.

Following this, the BMW X5 “nudged” into the Alfa Romeo to prevents its escape, said Det Sgt McInaw.

The witness said he used “a distraction device” before he “extracted” Mr Whelan from the front passenger seat of the Alfa Romeo car, placed him on the ground and put handcuffs on him.

Det Sgt McInaw said he saw a firearm as well as a glove between two red canisters when he looked into the footwell of the passenger seat of the Alfa Romeo. 

Under cross examination by Mark Nicholas SC, defending Mr O’Donoghue, Det Sgt McInaw said the Alfa Romeo car had reversed “in order to try and make an escape” and said it had damaged the sensors of the Audi Q7.

Under cross examination by Colman Cody SC, defending Mr Whelan, the witness said he had reached into the Alfa Romeo, grabbed Mr Whelan’s hand and pulled him from the car.

Det Sgt McInaw told Mr Cody that he was not aware that his client was brought to University Hospital Limerick that night for medical attention.

Detective Garda Ciaran Moroney told Mr McGinn that he was in the rear passenger seat of the Audi Q7 when the Alfa Romeo reversed and impacted into the front of their car.

“Enough to give a hit, no air bags were deployed,” he said.

Det Garda Moroney said when he approached the Alfa Romeo, he saw Mr O’Donoghue attempt to jump into the back of the car. When he could not get the car doors of the Alfa Romeo to open, the witness said he broke the back window of the car with a garda device but by this time Mr O’Donoghue had already moved to the driver’s seat.

Det Garda Moroney said he then broke the front window of the car before he extracted Mr O’Donoghue from the car.

Detective Garda Ronan Lawlor from Forensic Science Ireland told Mr McGinn he received a semi automatic pistol from Garda Robert Sheehy on July 31.

He said it was a 9mm calibre, Colt make, 1911 model and was lacking in maintenance but functioned when tested with suitable ammunition.

The witness said the handgun had capacity for ten rounds of ammunition but only had eight rounds of ammunition in it when he received it.

Garda Fiona Maguire from the fingerprints section of the Garda Technical Bureau gave evidence that no fingerprints could be developed from the pistol and rounds of ammunition.

Sarah Fleming from Forensic Science Ireland said that she had taken swabs from the firearm and rounds of ammunition in order to see if DNA profiles could be obtained and then compared with the DNA profiles belonging to the accused men.

“No useful DNA profiles could be obtained from the swabs of the firearm or the swabs from the rounds of ammunition,” said Ms Fleming.

The trial continues on Friday before Ms Justice Tara Burns, presiding, sitting with Judge Patricia Ryan and Judge Flann Brennan.