A MAN who was caught with a loaded handgun in the toilet of a pub while on bail for possession of cannabis resin valued at €341,787 has been jailed for 10 years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
John Mangan (40), of Whitestown Green, Blanchardstown, Dublin, was sentenced to a mandatory 10 years for possession of the drugs, and four years for the “Luger” pistol.
Judge Katherine Delahunt said the “special and exceptional circumstances” surrounding the gun possession meant it didn’t warrant the mandatory term and she suspended a four-year sentence in relation to the gun.
Mangan pleaded guilty to possession of the cannabis resin for sale or supply on February 4th, 2006 in Drumcondra, and possession of a firearm in the Comet Pub, Santry, on August 24th, 2007.
Judge Delahunt said Mangan’s co-operation when he was found with the gun and the fact that he had no previous firearm convictions meant the mandatory sentence was not justified.
“The court has a duty to look to the totality of the sentence as well as the justice of the situation,” Judge Delahunt commented.
The judge also noted that Mangan had received multiple death threats and had been warned by gardaí that his life was in danger.
Defence counsel Patrick MacEntee SC, submitted on a previous date that the consecutive imposition of the mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years for the drugs offence and five years for the firearms offence would be “an excessive figure” in the circumstances.
Mr MacEntee said Mangan claimed to have had the gun for his own safety after threats on his life, and there was no evidence he knew how to use it.
Garda Keith Halley told prosecuting counsel Shane Costelloe BL, that gardaí went to the Comet Pub after receiving confidential information that Mangan was in possession of a gun there.
Garda Halley said he found Mangan in the toilets with a handgun containing five live cartridges in the waistband of his trousers, and a further three cartridges in a tissue in his hand.
Mangan told gardaí that he had had “eight to 10” threats on his life that year, and he had the gun for safety. He said he had been shot at and his home had been shot at, but he had never made a formal complaint.
Garda Halley agreed with Mr MacEntee that Mangan told them the gun had been given to him by an unknown woman some time earlier and he also told them he was unaware it was loaded.
Det Garda Declan Maloney told prosecuting counsel Paul Carroll BL, that gardaí acting on confidential information mounted a surveillance operation in Drumcondra where they observed Mangan take a black “hold-all” from the back of a van and put it into the boot of a car he had driven to the area.
Mangan was arrested and when asked what was in the bag he replied: “Hash, what do you think? That’s what happens when you owe people money.” He said “the job” was worth €2,000 to him off a €9,000 debt.
Det Garda Maloney said 198 slabs of cannabis resin were recovered in total, estimated to be worth €341,787.
Mangan had 21 previous convictions, largely for traffic offences, but also for demanding money with menaces, larceny and malicious damage.