Judge orders Co Down man's arrest on firearms charges

Denis Patrick O’Keefe from Church Street, Castlewellan, had been due to be formally arraigned on four firearms offences at the Crown Court on Monday.

Belfast Recorder Judge David McFarland initially allowed defence lawyer Luke Curran time to contact his client. However, following the luncheon recess, and no appearance of O’Keefe, prosecutor Simon Jenkins successfully applied for a bench warrant for his arrest.

O’Keefe is accused of possessing both a bolt-action rifle and a 12-bore double barrelled sawn off shotgun in suspicious circumstances on June 12, 2014, and two other charges of possessing the weapons without having firearms’ certificates.