Two cousins have pleaded guilty to possession of a Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle at Limerick Circuit Court.
The court heard that both defendants had suffered psychological and physical damage as a result of an ongoing feud in Limerick city.
Mr Ross Cantillon (20), St Mary's Park, and Mr Roy Woodland (19), Canon Breen Park, Limerick, also pleaded guilty to possession of 22 rounds of ammunition last August 23rd and stealing a car on the same date.
They had pleaded not guilty to all the charges, but after two weeks of legal argument - and on the instruction of their defence counsel - they changed their pleas.
A further charge of firing the Kalashnikov rifle at a house in Moyross was dropped by the State, and Judge Carroll Moran discharged the jury.
At an earlier sitting of Limerick Circuit Court, Mr John McCarthy had given evidence that his nine-year-old son was "a couple of inches away from being killed" after shots were fired at his Moyross home.
At yesterday's court sitting, defence counsel for both men asked Judge Moran to defer sentencing pending the completion of psychiatric and probation reports.
Mr John Whelan SC told the court Cantillon had suffered "huge stress" as a result of the feud and had been the victim of stabbings and shootings.
A previous court sitting heard that Woodland had lost his right leg above the knee after he was shot in a feud-related attack.
Discharging the jury, Judge Moran thanked them and said if they had not come to court on each day of the case the accused men would not have changed their pleas. "You have been very effective and you should not feel that you have been wasting your time."
Both men were further remanded in custody and will be sentenced at the May sitting of Limerick Circuit Court.