Leading loyalist Winston Irvine sentenced to 30 months for firearms offences

A leading loyalist who was caught with firearms and ammunition in the boot of his car has been handed a two-and-a-half-year sentence.

Winston Irvine will serve half of the 30-month sentence imposed in Belfast Crown Court in jail and the other on licence.

Irvine avoided a statutory five-year sentence on several of the charges he faced after Judge Gordon Kerr KC ruled that there were “exceptional circumstances” in his case, namely Irvine’s “work for peace and his charity work in the community”.

Irvine’s co-accused in the case, Robin Workman, was handed the statutory five-year sentence by Judge Kerr.

He will also serve half of that term behind bars.

Irvine, 49, of Ballysillan Road in north Belfast and Workman, 54, of Shore Road in Larne, County Antrim had both previously admitted possession of a firearm and ammunition in suspicious circumstances.

They also admitted two counts of possessing a handgun without a certificate, one count of possessing ammunition without a certificate, possessing a prohibited weapon and possessing a firearm without a certificate.

Workman further pleaded guilty to possessing a .177 calibre air rifle without holding a firearm certificate.

The offences were committed on June 8, 2022 when Workman transported a quantity of weapons and ammunition to the Glencairn area of Belfast in his van, which were then put into the boot of Irvine’s Volkswagen Tiguan car.

A short time later Irvine’s vehicle was stopped by police in Disraeli Street.

A long-barrelled firearm, two suspected pistols, several magazines and a large quantity of ammunition were discovered inside a bag in the boot.

While the judge noted that UVF paraphernalia was found in the homes of both defendants he did not consider there was a terrorist link to the weapons that were seized.

Several references crediting Irvine for peacebuilding work in Northern Ireland were submitted by his legal team, including from David Campbell, chairman of the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), and former Northern Ireland Policing Board member Debbie Watters.

Judge Kerr said he had taken into account the references praising Irvine’s work in the community when assessing whether the case involved exceptional circumstances.

“I do consider a combination of the matters relating to the defendant do reach a level which could be described as exceptional, in particular the defendant’s work for peace and charity work in the community,” he said.

He said it would therefore not be proper to impose the statutory five-year sentence.

The judge added: “My finding does not, however, mean that I should ignore the purpose behind that provision in deterring such offences by the imposition of custodial sentencing, but such sentence should reflect the defendant’s circumstances and allow for appropriate mitigation.”

A PSNI spokesperson said: “Illegal firearms are synonymous with violence.

“We want to reiterate that the possession or use of firearms, imitation or otherwise, is unacceptable in any modern society.

“We are committed to apprehending perpetrators and this demonstrates our commitment towards keeping people safe from the fear, intimidation and control illegal firearms can cause.

“Anyone with information, or concerns, about firearms should contact us on 101, or 999 in an emergency.”