This article is from page 13 of the 2008-09-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
AN APPEAL by two cousins who were caught with stolen sawn-off shotguns in Kilrush last year is to be heard at the Court of Criminal Ap- peal in November.
James Kelly (27), of Leadmore, Kilrush, and Richard Kelly (21), of The Meadows, Watergrass Hill, Cork, were given sentences of four and five years respectively, at Ennis Circuit Court last November.
Both pleaded guilty to possession of stolen sawn-off shotguns, in Kil- rush, on April 8, 2007.
Both men have appealed the sever- ity of the sentences handed down. Those appeals will be heard on No- vember 24, at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Dublin.
At the sentencing hearing, the court
was told that gardai noticed activity on the monitor from CCTV cameras. Gardai saw the two accused go up the drive towards Cragg House in OTS
Richard Kelly was carrying two implements under the sleeve of his jacket.
The two went to a derelict building and came out again, each carrying a gun, which they wiped clean, before hiding the weapons in the flower bed to the back of the house. Gardai found the guns in a subsequent search.
In handing down sentence, Judge Michael White said he was taking into account the admissions and guilty pleas entered by both. How- ever he said there was a serious con- cern about the proliferation of weap- ons, of which the court took a very Serious view.