This article is from page 17 of the 2010-02-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
A MAN WHO imported ‘cowboy guns’ with a view to framing them and putting them over his mantle- piece found himself before a court after he was stopped by customs at Shannon Airport.
Frank Brennan (46), of O’Malley Park, Limerick, pleaded guilty to im- porting two firearms – a 9mm blank calibre Magnum 38 and a 6mm blank calibre Kimar – without a licence and ammunition at Shannon Airport on May 16, 2009.
Inspector Tom Kennedy told Shan- non District Court on Thursday that the accused was stopped by customs, having returned from a holiday in Majorca.
He said that two revolvers and some ammunition were discovered. The defendant claimed they were for use aS ornaments and he intended on putting them up on the wall. The matter was investigated and the con- clusion was made that there was no ulterior motive.
Defending solicitor Jenny Fitzgib- bon told the court that her client had been returning from a family holl- day.
“There was no effort to conceal what he called ‘cowboy guns’. They were in a duffle bag. He didn’t make any excuses that they were in his pos- session.
‘He had bought them merely as ornamentation. He had intended to frame them and put them over the mantlepiece. He was quite shocked
there was such an incident,’ she Said.
She said her client had not meant any harm by his actions and “merely wanted to bring them back as a sou-
ot baa He also fined Brennan €500.
Judge Joseph Mangan imposed a three-month jail term, suspended on condition that the accused enter a
bond to keep the peace for two years.