A sawn-off shotgun can have “no legitimate purpose”, the Court of Appeal has ruled in upholding seven year sentences given to two men jailed over IRA activity.

Dubliners Conor Hughes (41), of Goatstown Close, and Darren Fox (28), of Coolevin, Ballybrack, both pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of a Winchester 12-gauge sawn-off double-barrel side-by-side shotgun and two 12-gauge shotgun cartridges at Kyletaun, Rathkeale, Co Limerick on October 31st, 2015.

The Special Criminal Court heard that the men were intercepted by the Garda’s Emergency Response Unit in a stolen car which had travelled from Adare. They were wearing gloves and had hoodies pulled tightly over their heads.

A loaded sawn-off shotgun, described as “ready to go”, was found in the front of the vehicle. It’s serial number had been removed. A jerry can containing petrol and matches were also found in the car.

The Special Criminal Court sentenced the men, neither of who had previous convictions, to seven years imprisonment on October 2nd, 2017.

Higher end The sentence was upheld by the Court of Appeal on Tuesday with Mr Justice George Birmingham, the president of the court, saying the headline sentences of 10 years, on pleas of guilty, were at the higher end of the spectrum.

However, he said they were not so severe that they required intervention and that there were “many” factors present which meant this was a particularly serious case.

These included the nature of the weapon, which can have “no legitimate purpose”; the fact the weapon was “ready to go“ and being carried in a vehicle stolen earlier; and that “the activity interrupted by gardaí­ was in furtherance of the aims of the illegal organisation that was the IRA and the intention of that organisation to ‘effect an event’ that evening”.