There was uproar at Belfast Crown Court yesterday when a Belfast man was jailed for 16 years for having a loaded gun in his possession when the car in which he was travelling was stopped near Lurgan, Co Armagh, last year.
Kevin McAlorum shouted from the dock: "There is no justice in this country for an Irish-man," and relatives and friends screamed abuse at Lord Justice MacDermott.
McAlorum (24) was arrested in February last year, less than a week after his nine-year-old sister was accidentally shot dead in an attack on the family home at Ashfield Gardens, apparently as part of an internal INLA feud. In a reserved judgment the judge found McAlorum guilty of possessing the loaded Walther pistol and a loaded magazine with intent to endanger life.
The arms were found after the car was stopped at an army checkpoint and McAlorum and the driver, Mr Patrick McCleery (33), of Conor Park, Lurgan, were removed and searched. The court heard McAlorum had asked to go to the fence to relieve himself.
The gun was discovered just over the fence. When questioned, both men denied any knowledge of the gun or magazine, and Mr McCleery told police he was taking McAlorum to Lurgan for a break after his sister's death.
Lord Justice MacDermott said he was satisfied that it was McAlorum who was in principal possession of the loaded pistol and, by inference, of the magazine.
The judge acquitted Mr McCleery of having possession of the gun, saying that while suspicion existed, he was not satisfied to a sufficiently high standard that he knew McAlorum had the pistol in his possession.