A gangland criminal who "ran amok" with a loaded semi-automatic submachine gun in a "densely populated suburban area" before ending up in a bathtub with three arresting gardai has been jailed by the Special Criminal Court for 15 years.
The non-jury court has heard that a primed hand grenade was located lying on the bathroom floor but did not detonate and one unarmed garda "narrowly avoided being shot in the head" during the arrest.
Sentencing Derek Devoy at the non-jury court today, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said this was an "appalling" act and "dangerous beyond belief".
He called the evidence "both disturbing and shocking".
The judge noted that it was only by the highest form of good fortune that no one was killed and one of the gunshots had only narrowly missed a garda.
Devoy, 37, from Balbutcher Lane, Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 previously admitted possessing a 9mm Makarov PM63 RAK submachine gun with intent to endanger life and in suspicious circumstances at Cranogue Road, Ballymun, Dublin 11 on March 11, 2019.
The convicted criminal had also pleaded guilty to two charges under Section 19 of the Public Order Act for assaulting Garda Conor Garland and Sergeant Andrew O'Connor in the execution of their duty at Cranogue Road, Ballymun, Dublin 11 on the same date.
Devoy had further pleaded guilty to possessing an explosive substance, to wit a Yugoslavian M75 hand grenade with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to a property at Cranogue Road, Ballymun, Dublin 11 on the same occasion.
Devoy has 27 previous convictions, including two firearms convictions, one of which he received 10 years' imprisonment.
Mr Justice Hunt, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Dermot Dempsey, sentenced Devoy to 17 years imprisonment with the final two years suspended, backdated to March 11 2019, when he went into custody.
