Guilty verdict in Offaly 'realistic imitation firearms' trial

Edenderry retailer denied charge after gardai seized airguns resembling semi-automatic pistols

Published 12th Jun 2026, 14:00 BST Updated 12th Jun 2026, 15:07 BST Trial took place at Tullamore Circuit Court | Tribune Pictures Edenderry retailer denied charge after gardai seized airguns resembling semi-automatic pistols Sign up to our Offaly Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Offaly Live within your account.

AN Edenderry shopkeeper has been found guilty of illegally possessing realistic imitation firearms in his store.

The verdict was returned by a jury of seven women and five men after less than an hour of deliberations at Tullamore Circuit Court.

A trial before Judge Keenan Johnson heard eight airsoft airguns were found by a garda sergeant from the Offaly drugs unit at Fone Geek, 28 JKL Street, Edenderry on November 13, 2024 and the store owner, Ali Raza, Boyne Meadows, Edenderry was subsequently charged with an offence under the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act.

Mr Raza (29), denied the offence and argued that he had a reasonable excuse for having the airguns, which were openly for sale in the store and had been purchased from a wholesaler.

The trial heard possession of the items is legal if permission has been granted by the gardai or if the person in possession has a reasonable excuse.

On the first day of the trial on Thursday, Detective Sergeant Colm Coffey, Tullamore, said Mr Raza's shop sells mobile phones, tablets, watches, vapes, and what was referred to as drug “paraphernalia”, and other items, such as bongs and baggies.

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Detective Sergeant Coffey said a display case with an open box containing an airgun grabbed his attention and when he examined the gun, plus seven others which were in closed boxes, he considered them to be realistic imitation firearms.

As a garda trained in firearms himself, he said they were “very realistic” and said they were the same weight as an actual real gun.

The airguns were seized and produced in court to the jury of seven women and five men. The jury heard they resembled semi-automatic pistols.

When he was interviewed by the gardai Mr Raza, a native of Pakistan who has been in Ireland for at least 24 years, agreed the airguns were “very realistic” looking and said he had bought them from a wholesaler in Dublin who also sold vapes to him.

He sold “two to three” of them in his Edenderry shop but only to customers over the age of 18.

The court heard the boxes containing the guns were clearly marked “airsoft” and defence counsel David Nugent , BL, explained that airsoft was an activity where people gathered to use the airguns. It was likened to paintballing.

Detective Sergeant Elaine Dodd, from the garda ballistics section in Dublin, gave evidence of examining the airguns and concluded that they were not firearms within the meaning of the relevant sections of the Firearms and Criminal Justice Acts but could be regarded as imitation firearms if used in the commission of certain crimes.

They could also be considered offensive weapons if used for intimidation in a public place and could be regarded as realistic imitation firearms if possessed in a public place and appeared to the “ordinary observer” indistinguishable from an ordinary firearm.

In closing arguments in the trial on Friday morning, Shane Geraghty, BL, prosecuting, said the prosecution and defence were agreed on an important aspect of the trial.

“There can be no doubt about the status of the devices, that they are realistic imitation firearms,” said Mr Geraghty.

The legislation permitted the possession of the airguns if there was lawful authority or reasonable excuse but in this case Mr Raza had not sought the permission of a garda superintendent, as he could have done.

Mr Geraghty said a “reasonable excuse” had been put forward by Mr Raza that he bought them from a wholesaler.

“Ignorance of the law, which we are all presumed to know, is no excuse,” Mr Geraghty told the jury.

He said the items were not toy guns you might buy for your kids but were realistic firearms and that had been conceded by the defence.

In his closing argument, Mr Nugent asked the jury to use their commonsense and said Mr Raza owned a shop which sold things for profit and among the items for sale were the airguns.

He said an invoice from the wholesaler Trimex had been produced in court and the jury could see the Fone Geek retail price and see the mark-up.

“That's his reasonable excuse, capitalism essentially,” said Mr Nugent. He said Mr Raza was in business to make a profit and the “RIFs” (realistic imitation firearms) were not “clandestine” and his client had been fully transparent.

The RIFs were on display for sale to those aged over 18 and had been bought from a wholesaler who had not been prosecuted or investigated.

“This is just normal business. Ignore the noise around the RIFs,” he said.

In his charge to the jury Judge Keenan Johnson told them to exclude completely what they had heard about drug paraphernalia being on sale in the shop because there was no evidence that was the case.

Judge Johnson said defence had stated Mr Raza had a reasonable excuse and he said the jury would have to consider very carefully the argument that the realistic imitation firearms were being sold in the shop for profit.

After the unanimous guilty verdict was returned the court was told that Mr Raza had a previous conviction for assault causing harm.

Mr Nugent said sentencing could take place next week and Judge Johnson scheduled it for Tuesday, June 16.

He remanded Mr Raza on continuing bail to appear in court again on that date.

Related topics: Offaly Gardaí David Nugent Tullamore Circuit Court Judge Keenan Johnson Sign up to our Offaly Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Offaly Live within your account.