This article is from page 7 of the 2007-04-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
AN Ennistymon man who was jailed last month for life for murder has been jailed for four and a half years for a firearms offence.
John Collins (51), of Francis Street, Rathealy Road, Fermoy, County Cork, and who is originally from En- nistymon, was found guilty in March of murdering boxing coach John Ma- hon, in Cork, on February 12, 2006.
At the Central Criminal Court in Dublin yesterday (Monday), Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins 1m- posed two four-and-a- half year jail terms, to run concurrently, for possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Darotee Counsel John Edwards, SC, told the court that his client has had a long history of alcohol abuse and the case re- lated to a “long-standing grudge”’.
“Mr Collins was not normal in the sense as we accept it. He was not thinking in a normal way,” said Mr Edwards. He said his client was “frank and forthright” in his state- ments to gardai.
“Whatever was going on in his head, it was not a case that he set out to cause hurt and upset to the deceased’s family or indeed to cause hurt to the deceased. Something overtook him. It 1s all to do with his
drink problem,” he said.
‘He is remorseful. He cannot turn back the clock. In all the circum- stances I would ask you to be as leni- ent as you can in this case,” he said.
Mr Justice O’Higgins said it was difficult for the court to divorce the charges faced by the accused yester- day with the murder charge.
He said to Collins, “You have been convicted of murder. You have been sentenced in relation to that. In some ways, the knowledge of the back-
eround makes sentenc- ing more difficult. The possession of a fire- arm 1S a very serious offence and carries a penalty of 10 years,” he said.
He said there were a number of mitigating factors involved, in that Collins co-oper- ated with gardai and showed gardai where
the firearm and ammu- nition were.
He said he was also taking into account that Collins was a “chronic alcoholic”’.
“In all of the circumstances, I have to deal specifically with these charg- es on their own merits and not in as- sociation with the murder charge,” said the judge. He backdated the sen- tence to February 2006.