A Limerick taxi driver was refused bail on Thursday after appearing in court charged with having four handguns, ammunition and drugs in his bedroom.

John O’Neill (64) was arrested after gardaí attached to the Limerick Divisional Drugs Unit (DDU) conducted a search of his address at Haymarket, Cathedral Place, Limerick City, on September 22nd, gardaí told Limerick District Court.

O’Neill is charged with five offences under Section 27 (a) (1) of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1964.

These include four counts of the possession of four Glock Luger pistols, a well as one count of possession of 13 rounds of 9mm Luger calibre CBC ammunition.

He is also charged with one count of possessing €3,790 worth of cocaine for sale or supply, and with one count of simple possession of the cocaine.

He made no reply when charged.

Det Garda Declan O’Halloran objected to the accused making an application for bail through his solicitor, Cathal Quirke, before Judge Patricia Harney.

The garda told the court it was his “firm belief” that if he was granted bail, O’Neill would commit “serious offences”. Quirke disputed this as “opinion evidence”.

The garda witness said gardaí executed a search warrant last Tuesday. He added that they “forced open” the door of a bedroom being rented by O’Neill in the city, where the Glock pistols, ammunition, four gun magazines and 37.9g of cocaine was located.

O’Neill was not present in the room and he was arrested later while driving a 132-registered car at Roxboro Road in Limerick city, it was heard.

After his arrest, O’Neill made admissions that he had locked the bedroom in question and that he was the only person with access to it.

His solicitor argued that O’Neill would experience “hardship” if he was placed into prison on remand. He said his client had suffered “two heart attacks in the past five years”, adding that he needed to attend his doctor regularly and he also has a back injury.

The judge granted O’Neill legal aid and remanded him in custody to appear before Limerick District Court for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions on September 29th.