Addict given gun for delivery to Dublin drugs dealer

A LOADED handgun, fitted with a silencer, was given to an Egyptian national by a Limerick gang for delivery to a major drugs dealer in Dublin, a court heard yesterday.

Ebrihme Hassan, aged 36, with an address at Priory Lodge, Celbridge, Co Kildare, agreed to bring the gun from Limerick to Dublin to pay off a heroin debt of €1,000.

Hassan, who had initially pleaded not guilty to charges of having a Sphynx semi-automatic pistol and six rounds of .38mm bullets, yesterday changed his plea to guilty at Limerick Circuit Court.

John O’Sullivan, BL, for the State, said Hassan was married to an Irish woman and had one daughter, aged five. Hassan told gardaí he had been sent to Limerick by a well-known Dublin drugs dealer named ‘Christy’.

He was given a mobile phone number of a man named ‘Dessie’ who arranged to meet him at Hyde Road in Limerick in order to pass on a gun for ‘Christy’.

Det Sergeant Kevin McHugh and Det Sergeant Eamon O’Neill spotted Hassan, after he collected the gun, being driven by another man around midday on June 14 last. The two detectives, in an unmarked car, followed the silver Ford Galaxy in which Hassan was a front seat passenger. At Edward Street, Hassan and the driver got out of the car but Hassan had been observed taking something from under his jacket and placing it in the glove compartment of the vehicle which was then locked.

Both got into a VW Golf which had stopped nearby. As that car prepared to move off, the two detectives stopped the vehicle, drew their guns and arrested three occupants, including Hassan.

They called for back-up assistance from Detective Garda Dominic Reilly and Detective Garda Arthur Ryan. The loaded pistol with a silencer attached was later found in the glove compartment where Hassan had placed it. The court heard the weapon was primed for use with the safety catch off, five bullets in the gun’s magazine and one bullet in the breech.

In evidence yesterday, Det Sgt O’Neill said the gun was ready to fire when they found it. He said, if used, the silencer would have suppressed the sound of gunfire to the extent that a victim would not hear it being discharged.

Det Sgt O’Neill said Hassan, who worked as a chef before an injury forced him out of employment, was a chronic heroin addict and got caught up with some of the most serious criminals in the country. He had no previous convictions.

Defence council, Michael Collins, BL said Hassan was used and preyed on because of his vulnerability caused by a drugs debt.

Judge Carroll Moran said sentence would be passed on January 19 and remanded Hassan in custody.