Farmer fined on firearms charges

A Co Derry farmer was fined £150 at the Magistrates' Court in Magherafelt yesterday on firearms charges. John Boone (57), Coolnasillagh Lane, Draperstown, admitted possessing a double-barrelled shotgun, a .22 rifle, an air pellet rifle, six shotgun cartridges and 14 rounds of ammunition without a firearms certificate. A defence lawyer said the firearms certificate was withdrawn in 1990 after treatment for depression, but he used the weapons, now in his son's certificate, as he had problems with vermin and stray dogs.