THE man believed to have been the intended target of the gangland shooting that claimed the life of Garryowen rugby player Shane Geoghegan has been jailed for handling stolen goods and driving while disqualified.
John “Pitchfork” McNamara (36) pleaded guilty of handling two stolen televisions at his home in Clonmore, Kilteragh, Dooradoyle earlier this month.
Judge Eugene O’Kelly sentenced the convicted drug dealer to four months in prison for handling stolen goods after he admitted to buying two Smart televisions from the “back of a white van”.
Inspector Seamus Ruane said that gardaí from Roxboro station searched McNamara’s home and found the LG flat screen hi-tech televisions worth €2,400 that had been stolen from a electrical retailer earlier this year.
Defence solicitor Ted McCarthy said his client didn’t go looking for the televisions but “couldn’t resist the offer being made to him”.
Mr McCarthy said that his client should have known that better but had admitted to the offence at the time of his arrest.
Imposing a four month prison sentence, Judge O’Kelly said that “anybody who purchases high-end electrical goods from the back of a van knows very well they are of dubious origin”,
In a subsequent case before the court, McNamara, who had 21 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified near his home on January 1, 2013.
Judge O’Kelly jailed him for six months and disqualified him from driving for six years.
