Nine months in jail for man who stole two guns

A MAN who stole a pump-action shotgun and a rifle during the course of a burglary in Crossabeg has been sentenced to nine months in prison.

Johnny Connors of 14 Rossfield Avenue, Tallaght, and formerly of Wexford was charged with burglary at a family’s home in Crossabeg on May 10 last, theft from DV8, Main Street, Wexford, on December 19 of last year and failure to appear before court on June 19 last.

The court heard that during the course of the burglary, the injured party’s wife left to bring the children to school.

When she returned at around 1 p.m. she found that the back door had been smashed and every room in the house had been ransacked.

She found a pickaxe on the floor and that a gun safe containing a pump-action shotgun, a rifle and forty rounds of ammunition was taken.

£600 sterling was also taken during the course of the burglary and the defendant was identified by CCTV. Gardaí told the court that while the rifle was later recovered, the pump-action shotgun was not.

The court heard that the theft incident on May 10 saw the defendant leave DV8 with a shirt worth €69.95. He was confronted by staff and gardaí were called. A list of previous convictions was read aloud, which included convictions for drugs, burglary, no insurance and theft.

A solicitor speaking for Connors said that he had been in custody on these charges since September and that he has a two-year-old child and a partner.

He said that Connors was originally from Wexford and he did his Junior Cert at Wexford CBS. He said that Connors had learned from his first experience in prison and was extremely apologetic to the injured party and the gardaí. He also said that his client was willing to do community service should the court give him the opportunity.

‘ This is a very serious matter,’ said Judge Gerard Haughton. ‘He entered a private dwelling, ransacked the house and stole two guns. The pump-action shotgun was never recovered. He must know where it went.

‘Somewhere out there in circulation is a pump-action shotgun that the defendant stole and must know something about. If he really wanted to do a community service he would tell gardaí the location of the weapon, but he has opted to stay quiet as is his privilege.’

After impressing upon the court the seriousness of having such a weapon in circulation, Judge Haughton handed Connors a 9-month sentence, back dated to September 14 when he first entered garda custody.