A north Antrim woman who admitted having more than 100 bullets, dozens of balaclavas as well as bomb making instructions walked free from court on Friday after her jail sentence was suspended.
Imposing an 11 month jail sentence on Jennifer Lennox, Judge Alistair Devlin said that in his view there were features to satisfy him the case was exceptional and therefore justified suspending that prison sentence for three years.
The Antrim Crown Court judge said it was clear from the reports, including a pre-sentence from the Department of Justice rather than the Probation Board, the vulnerable 54-year-old had been exploited by “seasoned offenders” and to jail her would risk exposing her again to sinister elements and potential exploitation as well as significant self harm given her mental health difficulties.
Judge Devlin told the court how Lennox gave an account of a man she knew to have associations with the UDA coming to her home and ordering her to store the items so “fearing repercussions,” she held on to them.
Other factors, said the judge, included Lennox’s clear record, cooperation with police, her early guilty pleas and that she has moved away and cut any associations she had to Ballymoney.
At an earlier hearing Lennox admitted having more than 100 rounds of two different types of ammunition under suspicious circumstances as well as two counts of having items, namely 50 balaclavas and bomb making instructions, “for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.”
The seizures were as a result of a police search at Lennox’s former home in Carnany Avenue in Ballymoney and there judge told the court how Lennox directed them to two places and showed them where she had hidden the balaclavas and bullets.
While the 48 green balaclavas were uncovered in a hold-all, 118 rounds of 9 mm and .38 rounds had been recovered from three socks, five further round were “lying loose on the floor” and cops also found documents which contained “ingredients and instructions to make explosives” in a chest of drawers.
Arrested and interviewed Lennox conceded she knew what the items were but claimed she believed the papers seized were “baking recipes” and further claimed her DNA was found because having been asked to sew the mouths of the balaclavas shut, she had sewn black patches into around ten of them.
Judge Devlin told the court how Lennox gave an account of a man she knew to have associations with the UDA coming to her home and ordering her to store the items so “fearing repercussions,” she held on to them.
Lennox refused to name the man who came to her door and the judge said it was clear from reports the 54-year-old had been “viewed as vulnerable by individuals who the report describes as seasoned offenders” and who thereafter exploited her.
Following the sentencing, the PSNI released a statement where Detective Inspector Lavery said: “The items could have been used to cause serious harm and we are thankful that they have been removed from our streets. “The Police Service of Northern Ireland is committed to tackling serious crime and we will continue to pursue those, like Jennifer Lennox, who are involved in such activity. “I would encourage anyone with information that could assist in our efforts to contact us on the non-emergency number 101.”