A JUDGE has set a new date for the sentencing of leading loyalist Winston ‘Winkie’ Irvine and a co-accused for firearm and ammunition offences.
Irvine (49), of Ballysillan Road in north Belfast and Robin Workman (53) of Shore Road in Larne, Co Antrim, were due to be sentenced on January 23.
However, the sentencing did not go ahead on that date due to a strike by criminal barristers over Legal Aid fees.
The strike was originally for four weeks in January but the industrial action was further extended for the month of February.
During a review of the case at Belfast Crown Court on Friday, a prosecution barrister acknowledged: “This (case) has been going on for quite some time.‘’
Judge Gordon Kerr KC set the new plea and sentence hearing for March 11.
Irvine and Workman were due to go on trial at Belfast Crown Court last December in front of Judge Kerr sitting alone without a jury.
However, following legal discussions, Irvine’s counsel Brenda Campbell KC and Michael Borrelli KC for Workman both applied for their clients to be re-arraigned on all charges they faced.
Both men entered guilty pleas that they possessed firearms and ammunition in suspicious circumstances.
They also admitted two counts of possessing a handgun without a certificate, one count of possessing ammunition without a certificate, possessing a prohibited weapon and possessing a firearm without a certificate.
Workman further pleaded guilty to possessing a .177 calibre air rifle without holding a firearm certificate.
All of the offences were committed on June 8, 2022.The defendants had previously pleaded not guilty to all the charges when they were first arraigned in August 2024.
With no objections from the prosecution to the pair being released on continuing bail, Judge Kerr said he would release them “on the same terms.”
But he warned: “They have to be aware of the fact that that might not be the result when they come back. You are free to go.‘’
No details were given in court last December on the circumstances surrounding the offences.
But at previous court hearings it was alleged that Workman transported a quantity of weapons and ammunition to the Glencairn area of Belfast in his van, which the PSNI believed were then put into the boot of Irvine’s Volkswagen Tiguan car.
Irvine’s vehicle was stopped in Disraeli Street and when the boot was searched two suspected pistols, an air gun, magazines and almost 300 rounds of ammunition were discovered inside a leather holdall.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard last year that police identified Mr Irvine in a parked card in the area on June 8, 2022.He was observed in conversation with Workman before closing the boot of his car and driving off, said a Crown lawyer.
A short time later police detained Mr Irvine and when asked if there was anything in the car he could not account for, Irvine replied “bag in the boot”.
A long-barrelled firearm, two suspected pistols, several magazines, and a large quantity of ammunition were discovered inside a holdall in the boot.
Making no comment during police interviews Irvine provided a prepared statement, claiming: “I have developed a reputation as a trusted interlocutor engaging with the community on key outstanding issues in relation to the Northern Ireland peace and political process.‘’