A man has been jailed after being caught with machine guns and ammunition in Swords.
Keith Donnelly of Aston Village, Drogheda was arrested following a Garda surveillance operation.
On March 3rd last year, Gardai were staking out the Applewood area of Swords after getting a tip off that a major consignment of drugs was due to be delivered.
Donnelly was stopped as he carried a large holdall through the area and officers were forced to give chase after he ran off.
He was arrested nearby and Gardai found two machine guns and 56 rounds of ammunition in the bag.
Today, Detective Garda Declan O’Reilly gave evidence at his sentence hearing before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
He said that one of the guns was loaded with three rounds in its magazine clip.
But he accepted that Donnelly was further down the line than the other people involved and was not necessarily told “the nuts and bolts of things”.
Taking this into consideration, Judge Mary Ellen Ring sentenced him to five years in jail with the last 18 months suspended.
