An Irishman with a bullet wound in his stomach was one of an armed gang which forced a former British soldier to bring cannabis worth £150,000 from Malaga in Spain, a court heard yesterday.
Jack Burns, who served in the North, and Dean Matthews, an electrician and disc jockey, were jailed for three years by Judge Patrick McCartan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Burns (28), a native of Easterhouse, Glasgow, Scotland and Matthews (30), formerly of Barrets Grove, Kidderminster, England, pleaded guilty to importing cannabis at Dublin Airport on November 10, 1999.
Burns, who had an address at Sitio del Golf, Mijas Golf, Malaga, was forced into the crime by threats to his family from gang members who said they knew he had served with his regiment in the North.
Matthews had borrowed 150,000 pesetas, or £600, from one of the gang called "Gary", who had the bullet wound in his stomach.
Shortly before being ordered to take part in the drugs run he was beaten up by "Gary" and another man and told his debt was £900.