‘Naive and reckless’ couple caught illegally selling firearms in Longford shop

A husband and wife, who ran an aquarium and fishing tackle shop in Longford town and were caught illegally selling firearms, imitation firearms at their retail outlet, have been handed suspended prison sentences.

Pawel Bacianowski (43) and Ursula Bacianowski (44), both of 8 Dun Darrach, Dublin Rd, Longford pleaded guilty at Longford Circuit Court last week to six separate charges under The Firearms Act on February 19, 2022.

The various unlicensed weapons found in their store Aquaristik4You at Little Water Street, Townparks, Longford included a Borner Powerwin 304 semi-auto CO2 pistol, a UA317 pellet gun, several imitation firearms, a small axe and a cannister of pepper spray.

Garda Rachel Carlin said Gardaí received information and obtained a warrant to search the store on February 19, 2022 and a large number of items were seized.

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Ms Bacianowski  was the registered owner of the shop and when she was asked by Gardaí, ‘Do you sell guns' she replied, "I check ID before I sell them'.

The court heard Ms Bacianowski had no previous convictions, while Mr Bacianowski had 17 previous convictions.

Garda Carlin said both defendants were very cooperative when she was asked by Niall Flynn, BL, defending, about the way they assisted Gardaí.

The court heard the couple are parents to four children, three of whom are under three years of age.

Kieran Collins BL asked Judge Connolly to take Mrs Bacianowski’s early guilty plea, her cooperation and personal circumstances into consideration.

Mr Collins said Mrs Bacianowski has been in Ireland since 2006 and in Longford since 2017.

"She cooperated fully during her Garda interview. There were no steps taken to avoid detection. There was a certain innocence when it came to her understanding of needing a license to sell these items."

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Judge Connolly said it was an unfortunate and serious case but he acknowledged there was no direct evidence they intentionally sold any illegal weapons into criminality.

"Both were naive and reckless,” he added.

Judge Connolly stated he believed it was likely they both had limited knowledge of firearms and he noted the Polish nationals had impressive employment histories.

He handed down a 21-month prison sentence to Mr Bacianowski and an 18-month sentence to Mrs Bacianowski, which he suspended for a three year period.

The jail terms were suspended on condition they are both of good behaviour, they keep the peace and they do not engage in the sale or supply of weapons.

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