A person has been jailed in Northern Ireland for proudly owning the gun that used to be used to kill journalist Lyra McKee.
The 29-year-old defendant pleaded in charge to possessing the weapon with intent between September 2018 and June 2020.
He used to be passed a seven-year jail sentence and an extra 5 years’ suspended sentence by way of Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday.
McKee used to be shot useless in April 2019 whilst looking at riots within the western town of Derry, in a criminal offense that despatched shockwaves throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The New IRA, a splinter workforce of the previous Irish Republican Army, admitted to “tragically” taking pictures McKee however denied any intent to kill. Three males are waiting for trial for her homicide.
The pass judgement on at Belfast Crown Court mentioned that the 29-year-old guy used to be related to a “terrorist gang which poses a danger to society”.
But the person used to be no longer convicted of homicide as a result of prosecutors may no longer end up the ” specific history of the gun”.
The court docket heard how the Hammerli X-Esse .22 pistol and ammunition have been discovered wrapped in plastic luggage and buried in a box in Derry in 2020.
Ballistics assessments confirmed that the gun used to be used within the taking pictures of McKee and 4 different shootings within the town over the former 21 months.
