Gun found in car was used in attack two weeks earlier

A LOADED semi-automatic pistol found in a car being driven by a nephew of Limerick crime figure Kieran Keane last May was used…

A LOADED semi-automatic pistol found in a car being driven by a nephew of Limerick crime figure Kieran Keane last May was used in a gun attack two weeks earlier in which a man was shot at 14 times, a court has heard.

Liam Keane, of Singland, Ballysimon, Limerick, has pleaded guilty to having a 9mm Parabellum Glock semi-automatic pistol and 13 rounds of ammunition in suspicious circumstances at Athlunkard Road, Corbally, Limerick on May 4th last.

The 21-year-old also pleaded guilty at the Circuit Criminal Court in Limerick to having a stolen car on the same date.

Co-accused Greg Crawford, who was a front-seat passenger in the stolen Mazda RX5 being driven by Keane, also pleaded guilty to having the firearm.

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Yesterday at the sentencing hearing Judge Carroll Moran was told both men were wearing gloves when the car was stopped by gardaí during an operation involving nine members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit.

Prosecuting counsel John O'Sullivan said it was their case the men had the gun for a "serious and sinister purpose of an immediate nature" which the State was unable to "specify precisely".

He said Liam Keane, who was wearing latex gloves when his car was stopped, did so in an effort to counter forensic analysis.

According to Garda evidence, the loaded pistol found in the car stolen in Dublin a month earlier was used in a gun attack in Limerick on April 23rd last.

Following lengthy arguments, Judge Moran ruled the background of the firearm was admissible on the "clear understanding that the accused were not involved in any of its prior history".

According to Det Garda Thelma Watters, the pistol was ready for use when it was located unconcealed in the foot well of the car.

She said the weapon was the same firearm used in an attack on April 23rd last, according to tests carried out by ballistic experts on 14 spent cartridges found at the scene of the April shooting.

During one of six interviews with gardaí after his arrest Liam Keane admitted the gun was in the car but denied he was going to use it to injure anybody and said he was out for a peaceful night to "meet a girl".

Garda Watters claimed Keane was travelling back roads to Moyross where some of the McCarthy Dundon gang members live. The court heard the McCarthy Dundons are the main protagonists in a long-running feud with members of the Keane Collopy families.

Judge Moran adjourned sentencing until January 20th next.