“Deadly weapons” according to District Court Judge
LIMERICK District Court heard that a number of gardai, lead by Garda Padraig Frawley, raided a Limerick city centre shop and seized 20 self-cocking pistol crossbows, some on display in the shop window.
Evidence was given that at 12.30pm on July 29, 2009, gardai went to Brightside on Foxes Bow, where the shop owner, Bertie Coffey, admitted selling the weapons.
He also admitted that he was not a registered firearms dealer.
The crossbows, on sale for €75, were amongst a number of items seized in the raid that was conducted under a search warrant.
Two charges were subsequently put to Coffey where he breached section 2 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act while in possession of the crossbows, and section 10 of the same act for selling them while not a registered firearms dealer.
Coffey, aged 38, Lios Rua, Tralee, and with three previous convictions for possession of firearms, pleaded guilty to the offences.
Ted McCarthy, solicitor, said that his client sourced the goods in the UK and as far as he and other similar vendors were concerned, they did not require a licence for these items.
Judge Tom O’Donnell, however, countered that upon initial examination they looked like “deadly weapons”.
Mr McCarthy said that his client did not know it was illegal to sell the items.
Judge O’Donnell asked how he could “reconcile that with the fact that he has previous convictions for firearms offences?”
The court heard that the goods were seized and in the possession of the gardai, but other items seized in the same raid were offered back to Mr Coffey who declined them as he said, “he was moving away from that business”.
Judge O’Donnell gave credit for the guilty plea and fined Coffey €250 for the section 10 offence of selling without being a registered firearms dealer and took the section 2 offence into consideration.
