Man was carrying pipe-bomb in his pants

A DUBLINER who carried a pipe-bomb in the shape of a tennis ball with a fuse inside his pants on instructions to deliver it from Waterford to Cork has been jailed for 20 months.

The bomb, which had the capacity to create a fireball rather than explode, was to be thrown at the door of a house in Cork city.

However, gardaí obtained information about the transportation of the explosive device and intercepted a white Hyundai car at Midleton.

Front-seat passenger Damien Brogan, aged 19, of Wellview Avenue, Mulhuddard, Co Dublin, was arrested and taken to Midleton Garda Station.

Sergeant Paul Kennedy said that on arrival at the station Damien Brogan asked the sergeant if he could have a private conversation. They went to an interview room.

Sgt Kennedy said Damien Brogan, “removed an object from his trousers and informed me it was a pipe-bomb”.

Judge Patrick J Moran asked Sgt Kennedy if he knew who was going to throw the device at the door of the Cork city house but he said he did not know.

The ballistics officer who examined the device said it was not capable of causing an explosion but would have created a large fireball. The sergeant added that it had the potential to cause serious injury.

Judge Moran previously imposed a three-year suspended jail sentence on the co-accused, who had a very good probation report and had entered a very stable relationship.

Sgt Kennedy said Damien Brogan was brought up in very poor circumstances.

Judge Moran said during sentencing of Damien Brogan: “I look on it as a very serious offence. The fact that someone as young as you could be employed to transport a bomb from one city to another is a very serious matter, it cannot be encouraged in any way.”

The judge imposed a 30-month sentence but suspended the last 10 months on the condition that the defendant would abide by the directions of the probation service for two years after his release from detention.