Five Dundalk men charged in connection with a planned punishment beating in the town were jailed by the Special Criminal Court yesterday for possession of firearms for an unlawful purpose.
Dalton McKevitt (27), St Aubin's Road; Eoin Quigley (29), Oakland Park; Tony O'Hare (41), Marian Park; Alan Browne (36), Mountain Court; and Niall Farrell (26), Cedarwood Park, pleaded guilty to possession of a 12-gauge shotgun and 9mm semi-automatic pistol for an unlawful purpose at Nicholas Street, Dundalk, on January 5th last.
Each of the five was sentenced to 3½ years' imprisonment dating from January 5th.
The court heard that the five men were in the Nicholas Street house when armed gardaí entered it. The weapons were in a sports bag.
Gardaí also recovered a quantity of ammunition, a nail-bar, a hammer, balaclavas and gloves.
Mr Justice Diarmaid O'Donovan, presiding, said that the court needed to "send out a very strong message that this type of thuggery would not be tolerated".