Suspended sentences for storing Real IRA arms

A man and a woman in their early 20s have five-year suspended sentences for storing guns for the dissident republican group the…

A man and a woman in their early 20s have five-year suspended sentences for storing guns for the dissident republican group the Real IRA.

Brian Mc Sweeney (22) of Coolowen, Blarney and Michelle O'Rourke (23) of Rockview Terrace, Doneraile, both in Co Cork, pleaded guilty to charges of possessing weapons at the Special Criminal Court on condition they do not associate with known subversives.

In sentencing Mr Justice Richard Johnson, presiding, said he had had taken into account the guilty pleas and their co-operation with the Garda.

He also took account of a senior garda testifying to McSweeney's good character while a doctor was a character witness for O'Rourke.

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O'Rourke, mother of a 10-month-old baby girl pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of an AK 47 assault rifle, a shotgun, a pistol, 119 shotgun cartridges and 126 rounds of ammunition at her home on a date unknown between July 1st and September 29th, 2002.

Mc Sweeney, an apprentice electrician, admitted having the guns and ammunition at Coolowen between September 28th and 29th, 2002.

Detective Superintendent Tony Quilter told the court that O' Rourke and Mc Sweeney had kept the guns for a Real IRA unit in Cork.