A Ballybofey man who was caught with a loaded gun and 1,100 rounds of ammunition following a dispute with his brother over the inheritance of the family home has avoided going to jail.
Paul McMenamin was before Letterkenny District Court following an incident that saw two shots fired at him by a sibling after a dispute arose.
After Gardai received a subsequent tip-off, a loaded .22 Smith & Weston handgun was located in a drawer in McMenamin’s bedroom.
The 60-year-old, of Corraffrin, Ballybofey, was charged with illegally possessing the gun.
He was also charged with illegally possessing 237 rounds of .23 ammunition, 410 rounds of .22 ammunition and 513 assorted shotgun cartridges.
The gun and ammunition was found following a dispute arose between Paul McMenamin and a brother over the family home which was bequeathed to his brother Seamus following the death of their mother.
Barrister for Paul McMenamin, Mr Sean McGee, BL instructed by solicitor Frank Dorrian, said it had been his client’s understanding that he would be left the house.
Their father died shortly after the house was constructed while their mother passed away in 2019.
Sergeant Jim Collins told the court that Gardai initially responded to an incident where shots were fired from a shotgun on November 8, 2021.
A crime scene was set up and the now-retired Detective Inspector Pat O’Donnell, who was leading the investigation at the time received information that a weapon was being held at a premises.
During a search, a .22 Smith & Weston gun and a cache of ammunition were found. Paul McMenamin was arrested and made admissions. Sergeant Collins told the court that the defendant was ‘fully co-operative’ when spoken to by Gardai.
Mr McGee said the situation ‘came to a head’ on November 8, 2021. He said Paul McMenamin was in a shed when he was allegedly assaulted by Seamus McMenamin.
Mr McGee told the court that Paul McMenamin got a call a short time later advising him that Seamus McMenamin was ‘brandishing a shot gun’.
He subsequently left and went to the home of another brother, Fergus.
As Paul McMenamin was making his way from the property two shots were discharged. “One, he heard go by his ear and one by his head,” Mr McGee said.
A large Garda team was deployed, including the armed response unit. The area was declared a crime scene and Seamus McMenamin surrendered himself at 6pm on November 8, 2021, Mr McGee recalled.
Inspector O’Donnell received information that a gun was in the house and a day later Paul McMenamin made admissions. A search was carried out and a loaded gun, with a round of ammunition in the chamber, was found.
“My own view is that the investigation into the handgun was separate,” Mr McGee said. “It’s not something that was discovered as part of the investigation into Seamus. It was a full 24 hours later by the time the Inspector spoke to my client regarding the handgun. The heat had firmly gone out of it then.”
Mr McGee said that a warrant should have been obtained for the handgun and Paul McMenamin wasn’t cautioned when Inspector O’Donnell spoke to him initially. “That would be another plank in the argument had the matter gone to a hearing,” Mr McGee said. “My client has maintained a certain course without hesitation and that is to his credit and adds value to his plea; he has saved much time and expense.”
Mr McGee said there are two safes in the bedroom which are used to house legally held firearms. He told the court that Paul McMenamin has ‘had guns all of his life’.
He said some of the ammunition found were for other weapons which had previously been sold. “It was not a situation where there was any intentional stockpiling of ammunition. It was simply an accumulation of ammunition.”
Mr McGee said it was accepted that a loaded gun was found under other paraphernalia in a drawer.
Mr McGee said the gun belonged to a friend of his client, a Mr Pat Kelly, who he met in America and who is now deceased. Paul McMenamin lost his right leg when he was 18, his barrister told the court, and this had a ‘profound affect’ on his life.
He encountered Mr Kelly when he went to America. When Mr Kelly contracted cancer, he asked Paul McMenamin to keep the gun. Mr Kelly subsequently died from his illness.
“Mr Kelly was a good friend and mentor,” Mr McGee said. “My client was afraid that he would get into trouble if he went to the Gardai. My client simply didn’t know what to do. He never fired a shot from it.”
Judge Éiteáin Cunningham asked why the gun was loaded and Mr McGee said as far as his client was concerned there ‘wasn’t a round in the chamber’.
“It would be unfair to speculate, but those are his firm instructions that he just put it away when he received it.” He said the gun was kept away from the legally held firearms ‘as he didn’t see it as one of his own’.
He said Paul McMenamin has no previous convictions and is a father-of-one who now lives in a mobile home. He said his client no longer holds any gun license or firearms of any description.
Judge Cunningham said the case is ‘a most serious matter in the court’s eyes’.
She had directed that a probation and welfare report be prepared in order to return an appropriate sentence for Paul McMenamin and he came before the courts again yesterday (Mon).
Judge Cunningham again reiterated that this was a most serious incident which warranted a custodial sentence.
Having read the probation report which said the accused was of a low risk of reoffending and the fact that he had no previous convictions, she opted to take a certain course.
She sentenced McMenamin to 10 months in jail on the Section 27 charge but suspended the sentence for 18 months and took the other charge into consideration.