Dublin man jailed over plan to avenge son’s murder

A Dublin man who was charged over the seizure of a firearm after the murder of his son last year has been jailed for six years by the Special Criminal Court.

Stephen Little (47) told gardaí­ after his arrest that “had you given me another hour, I would have killed the bastard that killed him”.

Little of Kilbarron Avenue, Kilmore, Dublin 5, had pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a Grand Power G9 semi-automatic pistol at Lein Park, Harmonstown, Dublin 5, on September 14th 2019 and was on Monday sentenced to six years by the non-jury court.

Little’s son, Sean Little (22), was found shot dead beside a burning car near Balbriggan off the M1 in Dublin on May 21st 2019.

The non-jury court previously heard that, had Little not made these comments, the case against him would have been weaker and he may not have been charged.

Co-accused Edward McDonnell (56) of Waterside Apartments, New Ross, Co Wexford, was on Monday sentenced to nine years for unlawful possession of the semi-automatic weapon at the same date and location.

The two men, who were both remanded in custody before Monday’s hearing, exchanged a fist-bump before their sentencing. Both men had been originally charged with having the weapon with intent to endanger life.

The two were jailed for possession of a firearm in suspicious circumstances, an offence under Section 27A (1) of the Firearms Act.

The court heard during the sentence hearing that gardaí­ recovered a loaded handgun under the passenger seat of an Audi car on the day before McDonnell was forcibly removed from the vehicle. Little had driven McDonnell to the scene.

A number of items, including two baseball caps, two balaclavas and some gloves fell from McDonnell’s lap upon arrest and a red petrol can containing liquid as well as a long-handled lighter were also found in the vehicle.

At Monday’s sentencing, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said that the headline sentence for such an offence was 14 years with five years’ imprisonment a minimum.

He said that he agreed with Michael Bowman SC, for McDonnell, in assessing the offence to be in the middle range and said the headline sentence, before mitigation, was 10 years.

‘Intended lethality’

Mr Justice Hunt said that the case was one of “intended lethality”, which was only avoided by Garda intervention. Regarding Little, Mr Justice Hunt said that the accused’s motivation was the murder of his son and that it had been accepted that Little was not the man who would pull the trigger.

The judge said that Little had no previous convictions, barring the road traffic offence, and there were positive personal testimonials before the court on his behalf. The judge said Little had been through personal and medical difficulties, which lessened his culpability, and the court would reduce the headline sentence to eight years.

Mr Justice Hunt further discounted the sentence by 25 per cent on account of Little’s early guilty plea, which he said was “of significant value in serving the public interest”.

He sentenced Little to six years’ imprisonment and backdated it to December 21st 2019, when he was first taken into custody on the matter.

Regarding McDonnell, Mr Justice Hunt said that his motivation for possessing the weapon “still remains opaque” and noted that it was unclear whether or not McDonnell was to be a gunman or a driver, due to the two sets of clothing of which he was found in possession.

Mr Justice Hunt, taking into account McDonnell’s “significant” previous convictions, discounted his sentence by 10 per cent for his guilty plea, albeit one which was entered on the fifth day of his trial.

He sentenced McDonnell to nine years’ imprisonment and backdated the sentence to begin on September 16th 2019, when McDonnell was first taken into custody on the matter.

The court heard McDonnell has 47 previous convictions which include attempted robbery, sexual assault and assault causing harm.

Surveillance operation

At a previous sentence hearing Detective Inspector Conor Ó Murchú said Little was arrested following a surveillance operation in the Coolock area between September 11th and 13th 2019.

Following his arrest, Little told gardaí: “Had you given me another hour I would have killed the bastard that killed him. I lost my marriage and my son.”

Little also told a garda later at Clontarf Garda Station: “Why didn’t you let it go another hour.”

Under cross-examination, Det Insp Ó Murchú agreed with Sean Guerin SC, defending Little, that the comments made by his client upon arrest referred to his son being killed in May of that year. The detective also agreed that the killing of Little’s son was a motivating factor for his involvement in the case. He further agreed that Little was not the individual who was going to pull the trigger.

In mitigation, Mr Guerin asked the court to consider that this was a case where there were unusual personal circumstances and the motivating factor was the killing of Little’s son. The barrister said his client was not the hallmark of a criminal but rather his thinking had been distorted.

Another factor in mitigation, Mr Guerin said was the distance his client was keeping from the weapon itself and the fact he was not in the same vehicle as the firearm. “Had he not spoken as he did, it would have been a very different case,” he submitted.