Gardaí warn young people 'you are disposable to them' as brothers jailed for firearms offences
(Left to right) Glen Ward and his brother Eric O'Driscoll at the Criminal Courts of Justice in 2023. Ward was given a sentence of five years and six months on Monday, while O’Driscoll was previously handed a five-year term. File picture: Paddy Cummins
Gardaí have welcomed the sentencing of two men for firearms offences today saying the criminals “act and believe that they are above the law”.
A senior officer said the pair - brothers Glen Ward, known as the criminal figure ‘Mr Flashy’, and Eric O’Driscoll - brought “significant harm and tragedy” to families in the north Dublin community they live in and operate from.
Garda HQ uploaded videos and photographs online of the firepower, including a semi-automatic rifle and a military-grade sub-machine gun, they seized during a search of a house linked to the men.
The specific charge the brothers were convicted of was the discharge of the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle just outside the backdoor of a house party in Finglas more than three years ago.
Ward, aged 32, and his younger brother, O’Driscoll, aged 23, had both pleaded guilty to possession of the weapon and were sentenced at the non-jury Special Criminal Court. Ward was given a sentence of five years and six months on Monday, while O’Driscoll was previously handed a five-year term.
In a statement, Detective Superintendent Paul Murphy, Finglas Garda Station, said: “An Garda Síochána acknowledges the convictions and sentences imposed by the Special Criminal Court on Eric O’Driscoll and Glen Ward.
“The commitment of detectives at Finglas Garda Station to investigate these individuals with a history of involvement in organised crime in our capital city, and locally in their own community in Finglas, has ensured the conviction of both by the Special Criminal Court.”
Supt Murphy said: “Criminals, like Eric O’ Driscoll and Glen Ward, act and believe that they are above the law, inflicting significant harm and tragedy on families in the community in which they live but also operate their criminality from.”
He said his message to young people was that there was nothing positive that these criminals can offer them.
“Their actions are motivated by greed and are only self-serving,” he said. “You are disposable to them.”
Supt Murphy said the convictions and sentences sent “a clear message” to any person who involves themselves in any way with organised crime or criminal activity that An Garda Síochána will investigate the matters and they will be brought to justice before the courts.
“I would like to reassure the public in the greater Finglas area, An Garda Síochána does not tolerate organised criminal behaviour and we are working every day to keep people in the Finglas community and the wider Dublin area, safe.”
The senior officer had this to say to middle-class users of cocaine: “Finally my message to any person who uses illegal drugs in a recreational environment, predominately cocaine, is that although you might consider yourself removed from organised crime and live in comfortable communities, every time you buy or consume illegal drugs you are directly supporting criminals such as Glen Ward and Eric O’Driscoll and the misery that they have inflicted on their communities.
“Every line of cocaine is directly connected with organised crime gangs, drugs intimidation and death.”
At the Special Criminal Court, Ms Justice Melanie Greally said the firearm Ward used was powerful and capable of causing serious injury or death.
She noted that gardaí found the weapon alongside a "sizeable cache" of ammunition. Video footage retrieved from a phone showed Ward, having already fired the gun, encouraging his younger brother Eric O'Driscoll to take and discharge the firearm, she added.
Ward, aged 32, previously pleaded guilty to a charge that on January 1, 2022, at an address in Finglas he possessed or had control of a .223 calibre Remington AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference that he did not have it for a lawful purpose.
O'Driscoll, aged 23, pleaded guilty to possession of the same gun.
Gardaí discovered the rifle alongside a military sub-machine gun during a search of a house in Finglas in February 2022.
Ms Justice Greally said that in June of that year, gardaí responded to reports that shots had been fired at a taxi on the Tolka Valley Road. When they searched the taxi, they found a phone that they were later able to connect to O'Driscoll.
Analysts discovered a video clip on the phone in which Ward could be seen pointing the AR-15 rifle towards the sky and firing. Ms Justice Greally said a number of young people were present and watching. Ward, she said, then handed the firearm to O'Driscoll, who fired three shots into the air.
In passing sentence, Judge Greally said there is a "certain unreality" to the suggestion that Ward had only a fleeting involvement with the firearm. However, she accepted that there was a "dearth of evidence of his relationship to the firearm", and his plea was accepted based on what can be seen in the video clip.
In mitigation, she considered the negative impact on Ward's mental health after spending his first seven months in prison on 23-hour lock-up with his brother. A prison governor's report states that his behaviour has improved recently.
The court also noted that Ward had undertaken not to associate with six individuals whose names were handed into the court.
Ms Justice Greally sentenced Ward to six years and three months but suspended the final nine months. The defendant must keep the peace and be of good behaviour for 12 months after his release, or he could serve the suspended portion of the sentence.
The court previously jailed O'Driscoll for five years.
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