A man who pointed a bolt-action rifle at gardaí in “a threatening and aggressive manner” has been jailed for seven years for this, a burglary and a “mini-riot” in a detention centre.
Stephen Kelly (20), of Windmill Park, Crumlin, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to violent disorder at St Patrick's Institution on March 18th, 2013, and to possession of the rifle on March 25th, 2014. .
Garda Enda Daly agreed with James Dwyer, prosecuting, that a subsequent examination of the rifle concluded that it was not capable of firing but added that he had no way of knowing that.
The court heard that Kelly and three other inmates caused €33,000 worth of damage to the library in the detention centre after attacking two prison officers with legs of chairs and tables.
Kelly also pleaded guilty to burglary on March 12th, 2014, during which a house was ransacked and a laptop, wedding ring, watches, a necklace, silver pen and camera were taken.
These items were returned to the home-owner after they were discovered in a BMW which Kelly was the passenger in. The vehicle had been stopped by gardaí after they became suspicious of the two men in it. A teenager who had been driving the car was later prosecuted in the Children’s Court.
Kelly was not charged with the burglary until the following November when gardaí linked the items found in the car back to the break-in.
He was on bail for the violent disorder charge when he committed the offences in March 2014. Kelly’s 49 previous convictions include road traffic offences, theft, assault, drug offences and criminal damage. He is currently serving a six-year sentence for robbery.
Pieter Le Vert, defending, said his client offered apologies for his crimes and accepted that it must have been a “terrifying experience for the gardaí”.
He said Kelly now instructed him that he had been under significant pressure because of his drug use at the time and had been asked to move this gun.
Counsel told Judge Martin Nolan that Kelly started abusing alcohol as a 14-year-old and later became addicted to cannabis and tablets. He has since become a father to a baby girl and is doing well in prison, securing a job in the laundry and completing courses there. He said Kelly was "determined to continue on his path to rehabilitation".
Judge Nolan said the gardaí did not know whether the rifle was in working order or not, and as such they had good reason to believe their life was in danger.
He described the incident in St Patrick’s as a “mini-riot” during which significant damage was caused and prison staff was injured.
He accepted that there was “some hope” for Kelly’s rehabilitation before he imposed consecutive sentences totalling seven years.