{"id":381543,"date":"2026-04-04T11:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T11:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/381543\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T11:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T11:26:13","slug":"paranoid-drug-user-jailed-over-guns-and-bulletproof-vest-found-in-raid-at-limerick-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/381543\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Paranoid\u2019 drug user jailed over guns and bulletproof vest found in raid at Limerick home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A LIMERICK man who had two rifles and a bulletproof vest at his home has been sentenced to three years imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p>Michael O\u2019Callaghan, aged 23, with an address at Distillery View, Thomondgate in the city had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.limerickleader.ie\/section\/463\/crime-court\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">pleaded guilty<\/a> to possession of ammunition, an improvised firearm and two rifles under the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990.<\/p>\n<p>During a sentencing hearing, Limerick Circuit Court heard that on February 22, 2023, garda\u00ed carried out a search of Mr O\u2019Callaghan\u2019s residence in Thomondgate.<\/p>\n<p>In the upstairs bedroom of the property, they found two black air rifles and an improvised firearm which was hidden in the sleeve of a coat jacket.<\/p>\n<p>A bulletproof vest and one round of ammunition were also discovered by gardai during the search.<\/p>\n<p>READ NEXT |\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.limerickleader.ie\/news\/crime-and-courts\/2052234\/limerick-service-station-reopens-10-months-after-it-was-torched-in-arson-attack.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Limerick service station reopens 10 months after it was torched in arson attack<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mr O\u2019Callaghan was arrested and during interview he subsequently admitted to being the owner of the items.<\/p>\n<p>Imposing sentence, Judge Colin Daly noted the firearm did not fire when tested by ballistics experts.<\/p>\n<p>The judge also noted there was no evidence that any of the weapons were used or brandished by Mr O\u2019Callaghan at any point.<\/p>\n<p>The court heard the accused had admitted he was a drug user and that he had been receiving threats in relation to outstanding debts he owed at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Mr O\u2019Callaghan told garda\u00ed he had acquired the weapons because he was paranoid and feared for his safety.<\/p>\n<p>Having considered the evidence and submissions, Judge Daly said that Mr O\u2019Callaghan had high culpability, given he had sought out the weapons for his own use.<\/p>\n<p>However, he noted that it didn\u2019t appear he had acquired them for any other \u201cmore sinister reason\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In mitigation, Judge Daly highlighted the accused\u2019s early guilty plea and its value to garda\u00ed, the State and the court &#8211; in terms of money and time.<\/p>\n<p>He said what had occurred was a \u201cserious matter\u201d but that Mr O\u2019Callaghan had co-operated fully with investigating garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n<p>READ NEXT |\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.limerickleader.ie\/news\/health\/2052799\/hospital-reveals-plans-for-multi-million-euro-expansion-of-clinic-in-limerick.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Hospital reveals plans for multi-million euro expansion of clinic in Limerick<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The court heard that the man has since \u201ccleaned himself up\u201d after he spent a period living in England with his grandfather.<\/p>\n<p>The judge noted the remorse expressed by Mr O&#8217;Callaghan in a letter of apology penned by the accused.<\/p>\n<p>After formally convicting Mr O\u2019Callaghan, Judge Daly imposed a four-year prison sentence, with the final year suspended for a period of six years.<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A LIMERICK man who had two rifles and a bulletproof vest at his home has been sentenced to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,1396,67397,44,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-381543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-limerick","11":"tag-limerick-circuit-court","12":"tag-limerick-city","13":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}