Convicted Irish drug dealer Gareth Chubb was not present in a Dutch court on Wednesday when he was sentenced to six months imprisonment for possession of a loaded gun and silencer.

It was claimed that Chubb, an alleged associate of the Kinahan drugs cartel, pulled the gun and created panic in an Amsterdam cafe earlier this year.

Judges at Amsterdam District Court made an order returning his “lawful property” at the time of his arrest – €3,071 in cash and a Gucci cap – to him.

Chubb was cleared by the three-judge court of a charge of attempted manslaughter, due to insufficient proof relating to the incident on February 5th.

The alleged intended target, a Nigerian-Dutch national, told police that Chubb pointed a pistol with a silencer attached at him and he heard the trigger of the Walther PKK click five times.

The gun had jammed during the botched shooting attempt, it was claimed during the trial. The Dutch prosecutor pointed to a dispute about fake drugs as the cause.

CCTV footage showed Chubb (29), of Keeper Road, Drimnagh, Dublin, pointing the weapon at the man in Smokey cafe. During questioning, he admitted possessing the weapon.

‘Extreme shock’

A public prosecutor had earlier called for Chubb to be jailed for four years, citing the terror he inflicted on his victim who was “in a state of extreme shock” and “in fear of his life when he fled the cafe and contacted police”.

The cafe is in Rembrandtplein, one of Amsterdam’s main tourism centres, which was crowded with sightseers and people having a night out when Chubb “recklessly and nonchalantly” pulled a loaded gun, “gravely endangering public safety and public order”.

Chubb is said to be involved with the Kinahan crime gang who have been waging war against the Hutch family.

He was a close friend of David Byrne, a Kinahan gang associate whose murder in the Regency Hotel escalated a gang war that has since resulted in a series of killings.

The verdict means Chubb will be jailed if he decides to return to the Netherlands, but the time he spent in pre-trial detention would reduce it significantly.