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Teen steakhouse killer caught burying gun and drugs while out on bail
A teenager convicted over the violent death of steakhouse assassin Tristan Sherry was caught while on bail, burying a gun, ammunition and more than €60,000 of drugs, the Special Criminal Court has heard.
The 18-year-old Dubliner, who can not be named because he was a minor when he came before the courts, pleaded guilty to a number of offences at Tolka Valley Park, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, on May 7 and 8, 2024.
Among the charges were the possession of cannabis, diamorphine, cocaine and ketamine. He was also charged with the possession of 630g of a drug named Phenacetin. In addition, he was charged with the possession of a shotgun and 15 rounds of handgun ammunition and ten shotgun cartridges. The Criminal Courts. Pic: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin.
At the Special Criminal Court yesterday, Garda Daniel Sweeney gave evidence to prosecuting barrister Fiona Murphy that on May 7, 2024, a drugs unit observed the defendant digging the ground.
When the gardaí approached, they saw the butt of a shotgun sticking out of the ground, poorly covered in cling film. Eight packages wrapped in black cling film were beside the hole, with four containing cannabis to a value of €2,672, while the other four contained a drug used for mixing cocaine.
Gardaí returned to the area the following morning and located another two packages in a lightly covered hole that was three metres away from where the defendant had been sitting the previous evening. In one package were ten shotgun cartridges, while in the second package were 15 9mm bullets. Gardaí. Pic: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin
Garda Sweeney said that another hole was discovered 1.5 metres from this, containing further packages. In these, gardaí found diamorphine worth €38,962, cannabis worth €11,472, cocaine worth €3,206, and ketamine to a value of €8,230.
The garda said that the defendant was engaged in this activity in the context of the Hennessy criminal gang and had been carrying this out at their behest. The defendant was on bail at the time for violent disorder at Browne's Steakhouse in Blanchardstown on Christmas Eve, 2023, where Sherry shot and fatally wounded Jason Hennessy Sr before being beaten to death.
The defendant was subsequently convicted and is now serving a sentence for that offence of two years and four months. The defendant was 17 at the time of the offence but has since turned 18.
Defence barrister Pádraig Dwyer put it to Garda Sweeney that the defendant had a weapon for his protection. To this, Garda Sweeney said: 'In my opinion, I don't think he'd have any concerns for his own safety.
'He was burying guns and drugs for the Hennessys, and that organisation is involved in shootings and drug trafficking.'
Judge Karen O'Connor, presiding, adjourned the matter to July 7 for sentencing.
