Leading loyalist Winston Irvine, who was caught by police with firearms and ammunition in the boot of his car, has been handed a 2½ year sentence at Belfast Crown Court.
Irvine will serve half of the 30 month-sentence in jail and the other half on licence.
He avoided a statutory five-year sentence on several of the charges he faced after judge Gordon Kerr KC ruled there were “exceptional circumstances” in his case, namely the Irvine’s “work for peace and his charity work in the community”.
Irvine’s co-accused in the case, Robin Workman, was handed the statutory five-year sentence by the judge. He will serve half of that term in prison.
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Irvine (49), of Ballysillan Road in north Belfast, and Workman, (54), of Shore Road, Larne, Co Antrim had both previously admitted possession of a firearm and ammunition in suspicious circumstances.
They also admitted two counts of possessing a handgun without a certificate, one count of possessing ammunition without a certificate, possessing a prohibited weapon and possessing a firearm without a certificate.
Workman further pleaded guilty to possessing a .177 calibre air rifle without holding a firearm certificate.
The offences were committed on June 8th, 2022 when Workman transported a quantity of weapons and ammunition to the Glencairn area of Belfast in his van, which were then put into the boot of Irvine’s Volkswagen Tiguan car.
A short time later Irvine’s vehicle was stopped by the Police Service of Northern Ireland on Disraeli Street. - PA
