Former soldier gets five years for firearms offences

A 49-year-old former Irish soldier, who was also a member of the IRA and the INLA, was jailed for five years at the Special Criminal Court today for possessing a firearm on the night an INLA man was shot dead.

Richard Tobin, from Somerville Drive, Crumlin, Dublin, pleaded guilty to possession of a semi-automatic rifle on July 22, 1994, but denied murdering 31-year-old John Bolger on the same night.