Donegal man who pleaded guilty to gun charges facing a substantial prison sentence

Two men from Donegal and Cavan who admitted having a gun with intent to endanger life in County Fermanagh have been told they face “substantial sentences”.
They are 28-year-old Gerard James McManus, of Fernhill in Letterkenny, and 35-year-old Kevin Barry Nolan, of Main Street in Blacklion, County Cavan.
The judge told them she would review the case before sentencing later this month.
The men had been due to go on trial last month for the attempted murder of a student policeman in Garrison in November 2009, a charge that was left on the books.
Lawyers for the two men claimed that the trainee policeman had been targeted by one of his own relatives, an individual known to authorities on both sides of the border who had acted as an agent provocateur.
Prosecution lawyers said they did not accept the pair’s claims that they were only on a mission to scare him, as a gun had been fired.