Jail terms likely for pair who admitted possessing shotgun

Tatjana Glusecenko and Simon Frederick Thomas Larmour were due to stand trial at Belfast Crown Court on charges arising from an incident close to a bonfire site on the Shankill Road in July 2015.

Both Larmour, 28, from Rathvarnagh Drive in Lisburn and his 36-year old co-accused, from Verner Street in Belfast and who is orginally from Lithuania, initially faced a charge of possessing a Baikai sawn-off single-barrelled shotgun in suspicious circumstances on July 2, 2015.

However, legal teams for both defendants asked the clerk of the court to put a charge of possessing the firearm without holding a firearms certificate to each of them.

When this charge was put to both Larmour and Glusecenko, they admitted their guilt. Larmour also admitted a charge of assaulting police during his arrest on July 2, 2015.

Crown prosecutor Mark Farrell said that in light of the guilty pleas to the firearms offence, the PPS was leaving several other charges arising from the incident “on the books, not to be proceeded with” – including possessing the weapon in suspicious circumstances.

Although no details of the incident emerged during yesterday’s hearing, it is understood that Larmour and Glusecenko were arrested following reports they were trying to sell the shotgun to children.

Children at the scene raised the alarm, and both Larmour and Glusecenko were detained by local residents until police arrived.

Judge Patricia Smyth ordered the compilation of pre-sentence reports ahead of sentencing, which is due to take place next month.

Before releasing the pair on bail, Judge Smyth warned them that due to their admissions on the firearms offence, they “should expect a custodial sentence”.