Man had duelling pistols, court told

In the dock before Judge Philip Babbington was Sean Lawlor (56), with an address at Knockbracken in Belfast but who is originally from Blackrock in Dublin. He received a conditional discharge for the offence.

The court heard he showed a night porter at the Tower Hotel two duelling pistols and said “look at these bad boys”. .

Lawlor admitted possessing the firearms and ammunition in suspicious circumstances on November, 25, 2013.

Police were called to the Tower Hotel and the pistols were found in a box in the defendant’s room.

The pistols were described as working replicas and were capable of firing ammunition, which was also in the box. They were not loaded but the court heard they had the capacity to be potentially lethal if fired.

The pistols were manufactured in 1949 but were replicas of weapons used in the 19th century and it was believed Lawlor intended to sell them.

Judge Philip Babington said that he doubted if anyone really knew what Lawlor was doing with the pistols.

He imposed a conditional discharge on him and granted a forfeiture order for the pistols, stating that an money raised from the sale of the weapons should go to a local mental health charity.