A man who pointed a bolt action rifle at gardaí in “a threatening and aggressive manner” has been jailed for seven years for this, a burglary and a “mini riot” in a detention centre.

Stephen Kelly (20) of Windmill Park, Crumlin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to violent disorder at St Patrick’s Institution on March 18, 2013 and to possession of the rifle on March 25, 2014. .

Garda Enda Daly agreed with James Dwyer BL, prosecuting that a subsequent examination of the rifle concluded that it wasn’t capable of firing but added that he had no way of knowing that.

The court heard that Kelly and three other inmates caused €33,000 worth of damage to the library in the detention centre after attacking two prison officers with legs of chairs and tables.

Kelly also pleaded guilty to burglary on March 12, 2014 during which a house was ransacked and a laptop, wedding ring, watches, a necklace, silver pen and camera were taken.

These items were returned to the home-owner after they were discovered in a BMW which Kelly was the passenger in. The vehicle had been stopped by gardaí after they became suspicious of the two men in it. A teenager who had been driving the car was later prosecuted in the Children Court.

Kelly was not charged with the burglary until the following November when gardaí linked the items found in the car back to the break-in.

He was on bail for the violent disorder charge when he committed the offences in March 2014. Kelly’s 49 previous convictions include road traffic, theft, assault, drug offences and criminal damage. He is currently serving a six year sentence for robbery.

Pieter Le Vert BL, defending said his client offered apologies for his crimes and accepted that it must have been a “terrifying experience for the gardaí”.

He said Kelly now instructed him that he had been under significant pressure because of his drug use at the time and had been asked to move this gun.

Counsel told Judge Martin Nolan that Kelly started abusing alcohol as a 14-year-old and later became addicted to cannabis and tablets.

He has since become a father to a baby girl and is doing well in prison, securing a job in the laundry and completing courses there. He said Kelly was “determined to continue on his path to rehabilitation”.

Judge Nolan said the gardaí didn’t know whether the rifle was in working order or not and as such they had good reason to believe their life was in danger.

He described the incident in St Patrick’s as a “mini riot” during which significant damage was caused and prison staff was injured.

He accepted that there was “some hope” for Kelly’s rehabilitation before he imposed consecutive sentences totalling seven years.

Gda Daly said that he and a colleague were responding to a call on the night of March 25 and were searching the Tallaght area for a firearm when they spotted Kelly on the Jobstown Road. He was holding the gun in both hands and was wearing sunglasses with his hood up.

Gda Daly said he could see the long barrel of the rifle and its wooden stock. He showed Kelly his identification, turned on the patrol car’s light and siren and shouted at him to drop the weapon.

Kelly was standing three meters away, directly facing both him and his colleague .He was holding the gun at waist height, in what Gda Daly described as “an aggressive and threatening manner”.

He was again ordered to drop the gun. Kelly eventually ran off and the officers chased after him ultimately arresting him on Bawnlea Drive. He had dropped the gun during the chase and it was recovered and sent to ballistics for examination.

The rifle was later deemed to be in poor condition, with rust having formed on its exposed metal surfaces. The pin had been removed and it was not loaded.

Garda Barry Brennan said the incident in the library in St Patrick’s initially began with 14 inmates but ten of them agreed to move out of the room when staff gave them the opportunity to leave.

The remaining four refused to leave and armed themselves with the legs of tables and chairs. They dismantled furniture and barricaded themselves into the room.

The staff had initially left the room but returned with control and restrain equipment and were able to force their way through one barricade to bring the riot to an end.

The other three inmates were previously sentenced by Judge Patricia Ryan with two brothers receiving a four year sentence with the final two years suspended and the final man receiving a four year sentence with two and half years suspended.