Irish socialite jailed for smuggling guns
Kinahan pal Cullen gets 21-year sentence over French weapons role
THIS is the haul of weapons and ammo which saw an Irish socialite with links to the Kinahans caged for 21 years.
Lee Cullen, who was close pals with cocaine victim glamour model Katy French, was among a group of four who smuggled replica guns from France into Birmingham.
They were then converted for use with live ammunition.
The crimes came to light after cops stopped a Vauxhall Insignia in Birmingham on June 23 last year and found two of the converted firearms in the boot, along with 25 rounds of ammo.
The occupants of the car – Cullen, 46, Paul Firth, 44, and 36-year-old Sean Edwards – were arrested.
A fourth man Laurence Mccarthy, 44, had in March last year ordered eight Bruni Gap 9mm blank firing Glock replica pistols which would be converted for live ammunition.
He was later arrested and following a trial was found guilty of conspiracy to supply prohibited firearms and conspiracy to sell ammunition without being registered under the firearms act. He was jailed for 20 years.
INNOCENT
The other three men pleaded guilty to the same offences.
At Warwick Crown Court on Friday, Cullen was jailed for 21 years and eight months, Firth received a 19-year term and Edwards got 14 years and three months.
District Crown Prosecutor with West Midlands CPS Stephen Davies said: “When originally arrested Laurence Mccarthy had claimed the replica guns had been purchased for a gangster and moll party. However, this was a lie and in fact they were purchased in order to be re-activated and later sold to criminals.
“These four men all played a key part in purchasing and converting o f the firearms and therefore they all have to take responsibility for the illegal actions which could have put innocent lives at risk.”
Cullen was a high-end car dealer who received a two-year jail term in 2013 at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for evading vehicle registration tax.
Cullen, who had an address at Starwood, Coolmine, Saggart, South
Dublin, pleaded guilty to the offence relating to seven Range Rovers between February 2006 and March 2007.
It was at this time he was pals with Ms French, who he gave a Range Rover to when her car broke down.
She was taken to hospital in this vehicle when she overdosed on cocaine.
A source said: “He had set himself up as a car dealer in the UK but never left his criminal pals. He is close pals of the Kinahan organised crime group.
“His criminal connections were all associated with being a money man for the gang – particularly in handling dirty money.”