Ex-INLA man guilty to possession of sunglasses

A former paramilitary who served two years of a life sentence for the murder of a British soldier has been spared jail for possessing €10,000 worth of stolen designer sunglasses in Dublin.

Joseph Magee, 50, claimed he found the sunglasses, which cost €150 each, in a park and was planning to give them away or sell them. Gardaí believe he was holding onto them for a third party, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

Magee, of Marsfield Avenue, Clongriffin, Dublin, pleaded guilty to possession of 55 pairs of stolen ‘Maui Jim’ sunglasses at his home on April 2, 2015. The sunglasses had been taken from the car of a salesman but Magee was not charged with the theft.

Magee is a former member of the INLA. He received his first conviction in the North when he was 12 and by 17 was serving a three-year term for firearm possession, his counsel said. He was jailed for three years by the Special Criminal Court here in 2001 for another count of possession of firearms.

Judge Melanie Greally said if Magee was to be jailed he would lose his house which would hinder his efforts to reform.