A member of An Garda Síochána took possession of valuable firearms earmarked for destruction at the force’s HQ to sell for profit.

That’s according to confidential documents seen by the Irish Daily Mail and comes as part of a series of revelations about the handling of firearms and equipment at Garda HQ.

The paper’s executive editor John Lee joined The Pat Kenny Show to explain the situation.

“The claims have been made in protected disclosures not only to senior Garda authorities but to the previous Minister for Justice and even to the Taoiseach,” he said.

“We’ve been running a series on these, the latest one we have the morning concerns a member or members of the Gardaí obtaining dangerous weapons that were detailed for destruction.

“Now, in many instances, even though they’re to be destroyed, they’re still operable and in many cases as well, valuable.”

Gardaí outside Leinster House as the Dáil returns from holidays, 20-9-17. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Mr Lee said it is believed the weapons were seized in raids and custom checks by members of the force.

“There’s a huge problem here because these weapons aren’t properly logged, they’re not properly detailed, in many instances we published pictures where they’re strewn around with no particular order,” he said.

“There are guns and weapons that seem to be in there for 20-years and are under some form of record having been destroyed.

“We’ve seen photographs of them sitting there, in one instance a STEN gun, which is a serious weapon.”

Back into the hands of criminals

According to Mr Lee, the “ultimate macro-problem" is that since these weapons are kept in this way, they could find a way back into the hands of criminals.

“There was a story in the Irish Times recently where there was evidence that a gun had been seized twice,” he said.

“Which shows that it was in Garda custody, kept in the weapons store, and then ultimately found in the armed hands of criminals again.”

Mr Lee said this storage facility is described as a “large orange shipping container” that is secured only with a combination padlock.

He also said the combination to the padlock was available to a number of people, including those outside the remit of the firearms store.

Main image: Garda siochana headquarters entrance. Image: JoeFox Liverpool