A Co Antrim man found with a sawn-off shotgun in his home which was linked to four shootings including an attempted murder has been jailed.
Judge Philip Gilpin handed David Morrell a five year and eight month prison sentence and he will spend a further year on supervised licence.
The 47-year-old community worker was sentenced for charges of possessing a single barrel sawn-off Franchi 520 shotgun with intent along with five cartridges and possessing a prohibited weapon on the grounds that he was storing it for others.
Sentencing Morrell under the Counter Terrorism Act 2021, Judge Gilpin told Morrell that he would have to serve two thirds of his sentence before he was eligible to apply to the Parole Commissioners for release.
Belfast Crown Court heard the shotgun was found in Morrell’s home in a holdall behind a cushion on April 14 2022.
The weapon was used in four previous incidents including the attempted murder of a 61-year old woman.
The weapon was discovered by police who searched Morrell’s former home in the Ballysally estate in Coleraine. Also located were five loyalist paramilitary flags, including UDA and UFF flags.
Morrell, now with an address at Alexandra Avenue in Ballymoney, denied to police he was a member of any loyalist paramilitary group, saying he got the flags from bonfires.
A senior Crown barrister outlined to the court that the weapon had been forensically linked to four shooting incidents in the Coleraine area.
These, he said, were three incidents when “the weapon was shot at doors” which didn’t result in any injuries and one incident regarding the attempted murder of Sally Cummins.
The 61-year old grandmother sustained a head injury after shots were fired into her Coleraine home in October 2020.
In the aftermath of the gun attack, the PSNI said they believed members of the North Antrim UDA were responsible.
Passing sentence, Judge Gilpin said that by his guilty pleas Morrell had accepted that he had the weapon with the intent to enable others to endanger life or cause damage to property.
Judge Gilpin granted a prosecution application for the destruction of the firearm, ammunition and the paramilitary flags.