Waterford man went for 'a couple of pints' with BB guns in his bag
The case was heard at Waterford Courthouse.
A man has been fined €200 after a pub patron saw in his bag what they thought was a handgun.
Thomas Cullen (41), of Prospect House, Coolfin, Portlaw, Waterford, was before Judge John Cheatle at Waterford District Court for having a realistic imitation firearm in a public place and possession of a knife on August 23, 2025.
Sergeant Michael Hickey told the court that on the day of the incident, gardaí responded to a report of a man with a handgun at J&K Walsh on George's Street, Waterford.
A patron at the pub had seen what they believed to be a real gun.
Gardaí searched the defendant on arrival and found two imitation firearms, a multitool with a blade and €140 worth of cannabis.
Acting for the defendant solicitor Ken Cunningham said his client had purchased two BB guns that day.
He said his client had them in his bag and they “were not being waved around”.
But the bag was open, and a patron saw them and “quite rightly” contacted the gardaí.
The solicitor said his client did not know he was not allowed to carry them in a public place because they are legal to own without a license if under one dual.
The multitool was something a tradesperson would carry but the solicitor did acknowledge his client is not employed in such an area.
Sergeant Hickey pointed out that under the act, if the imitation firearm required a closer look to see that it wasn’t real, it must not be carried in public.
In this case, it appeared to the “good citizen” that the BB gun was real.
The sergeant applied for a destruction order for the BB guns, which the defence did not object to as they had “brought nothing but trouble”.
However, Judge Cheatle pointed out that the defendant was allowed to own them and that he had only just bought them.
Sergeant Hickey responded that while the defendant may have just purchased them, he “went for a couple of pints”.
The gun could have fallen out of his bag.
The sergeant said gardaí would return the multitool if the defendant collected it from the garda station.
Judge Cheatle fined the defendant €200 and gave him four months to pay for the knife, and took the imitation firearm matter into consideration.
