A man who was found with a loaded gun by gardaí as they carried out a drugs search has been jailed for eight years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Ian Dutton (46) of Greenfort Lawns, Clondalkin, was convicted by a jury of possessing a Glock semi automatic pistol and ammunition in suspicious circumstances; possession of a firearm and ammunition without a certificate at Greenfort Crescent on October 4th, 2005, and obstructing a garda who attempted to finger print him.
He was acquitted after a nine-day trial of producing a firearm for the purpose of resisting arrest. He had denied all charges.
Judge Frank O'Donnell dismissed Dutton's claim that he had been "stitched up" by gardaí as "baseless" and said his complaints "only bolstered the incredulity of your evidence in the face of the evidence of gardaí".
He said he could not believe that the gardaí would try to frame somebody under the auspices of a drugs search.
After his arrest Dutton refused to be fingerprinted because he said he thought gardaí would try to get his fingerprints on a gun which he claimed was placed beside the fingerprinting inkpad.
Garda Michael Ormond told Mr Shane Costelloe BL, prosecuting, that gardaí arrived at a Dutton's neighbour's house with a search warrant. They knocked on the door and got no response. Other gardaí went around the back but could also not get in.
At that point a car, driven by Dutton's wife, approached at speed and stopped in front of the house. Dutton got out, took a gun from the waistband of his trousers and pointed it at Garda Ormond and his colleague who were at the front door. Initially the gardaí thought he may have been a member of a garda drugs unit.
One garda held up her badge and identified herself while another shouted that they were armed gardaí. Dutton then put the gun back in his waistband and ran off.
The gardaí realised he was not a colleague and chased after him. They caught him as he was trying to climb a wall. A garda and a student garda wrestled with him on the ground until several other officers arrived to help restrain him. He still had the gun.
Dutton claimed in garda interview he knew nothing of any gun and had never seen one. He refused to let himself be fingerprinted and maintained that he was being "fixed up".
The gun was examined and found to be "cocked and ready to use". It was loaded with seven bullets including one in the breach, ready to fire. It was a Glock semiautomatic pistol with a shortened handle to make it easier to conceal under clothing.
Mr John Phelan SC, defending, said Dutton was a married man who loves his family deeply. He added that Dutton should not be punished for "exercising his constitutional right to trial."
Judge O'Donnell replied that no one will ever be punished for choosing to fighting a case. He jailed Dutton for between eight and four years on the various charges, all to run concurrently.