Man jailed for seven years over pipe bomb in car

A 23-year-old Dublin man was today sentenced to seven years for unlawful possession of an explosive device intercepted on the M50 motorway.

Martin O’Rourke, of Sheepmore Grove, Blanchardstown, was stopped by undercover detectives at the west link toll bridge during a surveillance operation on September 8 last.

The special criminal court heard O’Rourke was ordered out of his white Nissan Almera car and forced to the ground by armed detectives.

When asked what was in the car, he responded: “A bomb in the back seat.”

Detective Superintendent Diarmuid O’Sullivan, of the garda special detective unit, said O’Rourke was then questioned about what type of bomb it was.

“Nitro-glycerine or something,” he replied. Asked when it was ready to explode, O’Rourke said: “Fifteen minutes, get me out of here.”

Army bomb disposal experts were called to the scene and made safe the improvised pipe bomb, which was primed and ready for use.

When arrested, O’Rourke was on bail for a previous charge of handling stolen property and failing to stop for gardaí.

Military evidence showed the device could cause damage up to a range of 250 metres. Detective Superintendent O’Sullivan said its primary function was for use under the petrol tank of a car.

The bomb was made from a section of metal piping containing gunpowder and sealed at either end. It was attached to an electric circuit used to detonate it and an igniting mechanism made from a firework and a timer.

A garda ballistics expert said it could sustain significant damage. During a subsequent examination of O’Rourke’s car, a balaclava was also found.

Detective Superintendent O’Sullivan told the three-judge panel at today’s hearing that O’Rourke failed to answer any questions when arrested.

He said the defendant had a string of convictions for non-subversive charges, mostly on public order and motoring offences.

Defence counsel Paul Burns SC said his client was a father of a one-and-a-half-year-old child and was in a stable relationship with his girlfriend.

He was a restless soul of an anxious and stressful disposition who had gone astray since leaving school and taking jobs as a tiler, shop worker and, most recently, a scaffolder.

He suffered from mild depression and was being seen by a psychiatrist in prison. O’Rourke expressed his remorse and indicated he would have nothing more to do with explosives or firearms or people who use them on his release.

Presiding judge, Mr Justice Hall Butler, in his ruling, said the bomb was an extremely dangerous device. But the three-judge panel took into consideration O’Rourke’s guilty plea, family circumstances, his depressive illness and his expression of remorse.

O’Rourke was ordered to serve seven years’ imprisonment, beginning at the end of his existing sentence on separate charges, for which he is due to be released on June 14 next year.