Belfast loyalist Winston Irvine’s sentence referred to Court of Appeal

Irvine was sentenced to two-and-a-half years, with half to be served in jail, at Belfast Crown Court last month following an incident where firearms and ammunition were found in the boot of his car.

The 49-year-old 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".

The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) confirmed the referral has been lodged with the Court of Appeal .

"While sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary, the Director of Public Prosecutions does have the power to refer particular sentences to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that they may be unduly lenient," a PPS spokesperson said