Galway Advertiser 2004/2004_04_22/GA_2204_E1_008.pdf 

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8 N E W S

Galway Advertiser

April 22 2004

Former manager of Angels lap dancing club jailed for possession of sawn-off shotgun
The former manager of Angels lap dancing club in Galway city has been jailed for seven years with the last two years suspended, at Galway Circuit Criminal Court for having a sawn-off shotgun in his possession. Julian Spencer (42), originally from England,with an address at 5 Ballyoughtra, Milltown, Co Kerry, was charged with being in possession of the gun on March 10 last year in Barna village, about six miles from Galway city. Detective Garda Michael Staunton said he and two colleagues were in an unmarked garda car on the Dublin Road at Merlin Park, Galway on March 10 last year when a high-powered motorbike passed them out. A high speed chase ensued and they caught up with the motorcycle when its driver lost control of the bike at Oranmore village. He was carrying a rucksack on his back which contained a onefoot long sawn-off shotgun and four cartridges. The man, Kieran Smith, with an address at Park, Spiddal, who is unlawfully at large at present, admitted he was taking the gun and ammunition to Limerick city and he was to meet a man in a hotel there and give him the gun. He told gardai that Spencer had supplied the gun. Gardai went to Angels lap dancing club the following day and searched the premises before detaining the accused under the Offences Against the State Act. At first Spencer denied all knowledge of the gun but he later said he had received a phone call from Smith instructing him to get the gun from a shed at the back of the night club and take it to him in Barna. Detective Staunton said Spencer had since moved to Cork and was now involved in a lap dancing club there. "He has a lavish lifestyle and drives lavish cars like a convertible BMW. He is enjoying the good life," the detective added. The court heard Spencer had received a prison sentence in England in 1996 for trading with intent to defraud creditors and had been disqualified for five years from being a company director. He had been convicted in this country of after hours trading in a pub in Cork in 2002. Prosecuting barrister, Conor Fahy, asked the witness what his views were on the trafficking of guns to Limerick. Detective Staunton said the gardai were concerned when they found a gun was being transported to Limerick because a number of very high profile incidents had occurred there around that time. "We were concerned that it was a sawn-off shotgun. This type of gun is associated with criminals because it can be very easily transported and is highly efficient being normally used in robberies and shootings, " the detective said. The gun had been stolen from a house in Mountrath and had been modified in such a way that it could have no legitimate, legal purpose, he added. Mr John O'Donnell, BL, defending, said his client knew nothing about the gun and at first thought it was an air gun. Once he got the phone call his main concern was getting rid of it as quickly as possible by giving it to Smith. He said his client had never handled the gun and there was no criminal intent. Detective Staunton said Spencer's version of events was different from Smith's and he had never said he had thought it was an air gun during the garda investigation. Judge Harvey Kenny said people who handle guns, and in particular sawn-off shotguns, must face serious penalties. "We have to get these guns out of our system. Sawn-off shotguns go through a network of considerable changes. First they are stolen, then they are skilfully machined in an involved process to modify the barrel and stock and then they are transported and sold. "It involves a network from the time a gun is stolen until it is finally used and you were a willing participant in this seedy network of getting this gun into circulation," the judge said to Spencer. He suspended the last two years of the seven year sentence for five years and refused leave to appeal. "I take a very serious view of guns and in particular, sawn-off shotguns. So many people are involved in the destruction of the original gun and in the fine-tuning of the sawnoff version. If those people who machine the guns could be caught it would be in ease of society," Judge Kenny added.

Nessa Walsh of BarCuba modelling a swan creation at the Hair 2 There charity fashion show at the Radisson SAS on Tuesday night. Photo:- Mike Shaughnessy

UCHG a health hazard says Egan
Fine Gael's Maureen Egan has lambasted UCHG's sanitary conditions saying if it was a health and leisure centre "it would be shut down for hygienic reasons". According to Mrs Egan, who is FG's South Ward candidate, a recovering cancer patient had to visit the outpatients recently, and while waiting she went to the water dispenser to get a drink to find that there was green mould growing on the drip tray. She then went to use the toilet and found soiled toilet paper and no toilet roll holder. However Mrs Egan says this is mostly due to lack of Government funding and not incompetence by the hospital. "The State's failure to allocate resources to the west of Ireland is an absolute disgrace," she says. "It is time to send the Government a clear message in the forthcoming elections." She points out that for the North West region the current Government has underspent by 647 million compared with what was planned for this region between 2000 and 2003 under the National Development Plan, while 600 million was overspent in the eastern region in the same period. "It is time to speak out," she said. "People power works. We saw a perfect example of this in recent weeks when Minister Mary Coughlan was forced to reverse her decision on depriving widows of their PRSI entitlements. Your vote is your most powerful weapon to secure change."

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