When Gardaí searched Craig McKeever beside a taxi in Inchicore, they found cannabis and began unstrapping his bulletproof vest. A loaded polymer pistol fell to the ground. Technical examination established that the 3D-printed .22-calibre weapon worked. McKeever had 14 previous convictions and received four years’ immediate custody.

14Previous convictions reported at sentence.
3 roundsOne loaded and two more recovered.
€396,288Nominal benchmark for four years immediate.

From a street search to a firearms conviction

Gardaí on patrol saw McKeever and another man getting into a taxi in Inchicore on 24 June 2025. Officers said they smelled cannabis and told him he would be searched. McKeever disclosed cannabis and said he was wearing a bulletproof vest. As the vest was opened, the army-green pistol fell out.

The Garda Technical Bureau established that the .22-calibre 3D-printed pistol was functional and capable of firing the ammunition recovered with it. One round was loaded; two more were found. The court heard that polymer weapons are small, easily concealed and can evade a conventional metal detector. There was no suggestion that McKeever manufactured the gun himself.

The final plea and sentence

McKeever pleaded guilty to possessing the 3D-printed pistol and three rounds of ammunition. His explanation to Gardaí was that he had picked the weapon up to deliver it. The court heard that he and members of his family had received Garda threat notices and that their home had been attacked. Those circumstances were mitigation, not a lawful entitlement to carry a loaded gun.

Judge Elma Sheahan described the offence as a serious escalation. McKeever had 14 previous convictions, including theft, a drug offence and nine road-traffic offences, but no similar firearms conviction and no previous custodial term. The court imposed four years and six months, suspending the final six months on strict conditions. That leaves four years immediate, with credit directed for time served exclusively on the matter.

Charge stage and final record

The first District Court reports in June 2025 recorded an allegation of unlawful handgun possession, a bail refusal and a provisional account of what Gardaí said they found. This file does not present those charge-stage allegations as the outcome. The later May 2026 sentencing report supplies the signed guilty plea, technical finding, previous-conviction record and final sentence.

The reports use different Dublin addresses at the charge and sentence stages. Both are treated only as reported addresses, not evidence of nationality, citizenship or migration status.

Chronology

  • July 2024: McKeever’s family home is reportedly attacked amid threats to family members.
  • 24 June 2025: Gardaí stop and search McKeever in Inchicore; the pistol, ammunition, body armour and cannabis are recovered.
  • 26 June 2025: he appears in the District Court and is refused bail. At this stage the case remains an allegation.
  • Before 12 May 2026: McKeever enters a signed guilty plea.
  • 12 May 2026: Dublin Circuit Criminal Court imposes four years six months with the final six months suspended.
  • 2 August 2026: the published record is rechecked; no reported appeal outcome or sentence variation is located.

Public-cost boundary

The Irish Prison Service reported a 2024 average of €99,072 per available staffed prison space. Four years at that system-wide rate produces a nominal face-value benchmark of €396,288.

This is not an invoice or a claim that one prisoner adds precisely this amount to expenditure. It excludes the suspended six months and does not estimate remission or actual release. Garda patrol, technical firearms examination, prosecution, courts, legal aid, probation and the cost of responding to threats against McKeever’s family are not quantified. The cannabis value is not added.

Questions left by the record

  1. Who manufactured the working polymer pistol?
  2. Who supplied it and who was meant to receive it?
  3. How many comparable weapons have Gardaí recovered, and how many can evade common screening?
  4. What became of the wider threat and feud investigations described to the sentencing court?

Nationality and status boundary

The court reports establish Dublin addresses but do not establish nationality, citizenship, immigration permission, asylum history or deportation status. None is inferred. Inclusion rests on the concluded firearms conviction and documented prior record.

Sources

Record checked: 2 August 2026. The charge-stage allegation is separated from the later guilty plea and sentence. The latest located disposition is the 12 May 2026 Circuit Court order; no reported appeal outcome was located. Nationality and immigration status are not inferred.