A MAN from Co Tipperary who was driving a car with false number plates and who was in possession of a hatchet, knife and wooden baton, was sentenced to two years imprisonment yesterday at Galway District Court.
Patrick O'Connor (31), Kilgainey, Clonmel, was stopped by two gardai as he drove his car along Newcastle Road in Galway.
Charges against the passengers in the car, Ms Alison Connors (21), of Eillenauk, Co Tipperary, and another passenger, Mr Martin Ryan, of Kilgainey, Clonmel, were dismissed after Judge John Garavan found that the case against them was not proven.
O'Connor pleaded guilty to charges of fraudulently using number plates, a tax disc and insurance disc on the same date.
Garda Collie Finnerty said all three had initially given false names. The knife had a 6 in blade while the baton seemed to be carved out of a chair leg. Two pairs of gloves were also found. O'Connor had told him that he had false plates because he had no insurance, that the baton was for his own protection and the hatchet was used for scrap.
Defending solicitor, Mr Sean O'Carroll, asked for the charges relating to the weapons be dropped because they were in a private car, but the judge found O'Connor had a case to answer.
"It goes without saying that that awful arsenal in that car was clearly intended for unlawful purposes. It is reasonable to assume that the people whose cases I have dismissed were working with this defendant. Whoever their intended victims were, we'll never know," he said.
In addition to being jailed for two years in relation to the weapons offences, O'Connor, who had a burglary conviction, was disqualified from driving for 10 years on the motoring offences and fined a total of £400 for giving a false name and using false plates.