GUN RUNNER |
Before the Special Criminal Court today was Mark McCourt (34)
Mark McCourt and the seized weapons
The boss of a gun-running ring that supplied weapons and ammunition smuggled by air from America to criminal organisations could face up to 14 years in jail, a court has heard.
Before the Special Criminal Court today was Mark McCourt (34), of Edenrieve, Newry, Co Down, who previously pleaded guilty to firearms offences and participating in a criminal organisation’s efforts to import restricted weapons.
Counsel for the State, Simon Matthews BL said that the Director of Public Prosecutions had placed the offending at the higher end of the scale, which carries a sentence of ten to 14 years.
Mark McCourt and the seized weapons
News in 90 Seconds – Thursday, July 31
The matter has gone back to November 3 next for sentencing, with the accused remanded in custody.
When McCourt appeared before the Special Criminal Court earlier this week, a senior garda said in evidence to the three-judge court that he was “fully satisfied” that there was a criminal organisation in existence under the “control and direction” of McCourt “whose function was the importation of firearms components from the USA to Ireland, and the reassembly of these restricted firearms for onward distribution to other criminal organisations”.
Seized weapons
Det Insp McCartan said McCourt had already been identified in connection with the suspected importation of firearms when the defendant was arrested for something else on 24 May 2024 and had his phone seized.
Gardaí were able to extract data from the phone shedding light on the activities of the smuggling ring in the preceding year, along with conversations with prospective customers in messages on Signal, WhatsApp and Snapchat, the witness said.
Det Insp McCartan said McCourt and his co-accused both flew to Las Vegas, Nevada on three occasions in April and May 2023.
The witness told the court that in one text message, McCourt told one prospective customer — who used the alias “The Keeler” – that “€75k cash is [the] best price” for a number of firearms, adding: “I’ll throw in the 10 pipes for free.”
Det Insp McCartan said: “It’s my belief that refers to pipe bombs.”
He told the court the defendant has some 42 previous convictions including assault causing harm, theft, and dangerous driving “on the high end”.