Man offered €10,000 to plant Limerick bomb, court hears

A 30-year-old man was offered €10,000 to plant a bomb in Limerick city, a trial has heard.

Sean Smith, Loughmore, Mungret, Co Limerick and also with an address in Swindon Gardens, Brixton, London, is charged with possession of an explosive device at Loughmore, Mungret, Co Limerick, on June 3, 2003.

Mr Smith is also charged with possession of a Sterling sub-machine gun for an unlawful purpose.

Mr Smith is also facing three charges of possession of cocaine, with a street value exceeding €13,000, for the purpose of unlawful sale and supply on the same date.

Mr Smith denies all of the charges. Today, Limerick Circuit Court heard evidence of an interview given by the accused to gardaí shortly after he was arrested last June.

According to the statement read out in court, Mr Smith told gardaí he was offered €10,000 by a man he referred to as ‘Skinny’ to plant a bomb in Limerick city.

The bomb was intended to hurt “four to eight people”, the court heard.

Mr Smith said he told ‘Skinny’ that "he didn’t go around killing innocent people".

When asked by gardaí why he didn’t tell the authorities about the bomb Mr Smith said he was afraid he would be shot, the court heard.

"Skinny would have sent some-one after me, even if I was in prison, he would have known it was me," Mr Smith told gardaí.

The jury of ten men and two women were shown a Sterling submachine gun and components of an explosive device which gardaí say they seized during a raid at a bungalow at Loughmore, Mungret, on June 3, 2003.

On Tuesday, Judge Carroll Moran was told the raid was carried out after gardaí received confidential information about a bomb.

Members of the garda Emergency Response Unit and the National Surveillance Unit mounted a surveillance operation at the house before it was raided, the court heard.

Yesterday, Det Garda John Higgins, a ballistics expert from the Garda Technical Bureau said the Sterling submachine gun, found in a shed beside the house, was manufactured in England and would have been used during the World War 2 campaign.

Det Garda Higgins told the court that 34 rounds of ammunition could be discharged from the weapon on pulling the trigger.

The court also heard yesterday that 294 rounds of ammunition were also seized during the raid on the house in Loughmore Mungret, along with 35 feet of white coloured cortex detonating chord.

The trial continues tomorrow.