EVIDENCE in the trial of a #Limerick man charged with the alleged possession of an ‘improvised shotgun’ and 12 gauge cartridge in suspicious circumstances has begun at Limerick Circuit Court.
Denying both charges, 20-year-old Nathan Ring of St Michael’s Place, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway but originally from Ballinacurra Weston in Limerick is accused of having the improvised gun and cartridge for an unlawful purpose at McDonagh Avenue, Janesboro on the afternoon of September 12, 2014.
He pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned before Judge Tom O’Donnell.
Prosecution Counsel John O’Sullivan told the jury that the trial would hear from a number of gardai including sergeants, detectives as well as ballistics experts.
The trial has been told that the gun, which was made up of two steel barrel pipes of differing sizes which would be inserted one into the other, was contained in a white sock that the accused is alleged to have been carrying in broad daylight.
Garda Tim O’Connor has told the trial that he was on patrol in the area and observed Nathan Ring as one of four men walking on McDonagh Avenue in Janesboro.
He said that the group noticed the garda car approaching and they allegedly discarded items they had including a baseball bat and the leg of a chair.
Nathan Ring is alleged to have thrown the white sock containing an improvised gun and shell over the wall of a nearby garden.
Two of the four fled the scene while Nathan Ring and another man were arrested.
The trial, before six men and six women is expected to last into next week.
