Man caught with ‘nasty-looking’ knife has been collecting knives since he was six

A Buncrana man, who had a “nasty-looking” flick-knife in his car when gardai searched the vehicle last year, has told a court how he has a large collection of knives at home and has been collecting knives since he was six-years-old.

Shop assistant Taylor Flannery, of Linsfort, Buncrana, entered a guilty plea to a charge of possession of knives and other articles at Buncrana District Court.

The 31-year-old defendant represented himself in court and told the judge: “I am guilty; I had the knife in my car.”

Sergeant Conor Mulkerns gave a summary of the evidence in the unusual case.

He outlined how Garda Keith Conlon had been patrolling Lower Main Street, Buncrana on November 21, 2024, when the offence came to light.

At 11.20pm that night, he stopped a vehicle – a 1995-registered Toyota Starlet – and spoke with the driver, who identified himself as Taylor Flannery.

Mr Flannery immediately “appeared nervous and was evasive towards gardai”, the court further heard.

Garda Conlon subsequently searched the vehicle under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act. During the course of the search, he located a flick-knife in the driver’s door pocket of the car.

The flick-knife was subsequently seized, and Mr Flannery admitted ownership of it. He told gardai he hadn’t realised that it was in the car at the time.

The court heard how he has no previous convictions.

After hearing the evidence in the case, Judge Deirdre Gearty asked Mr Flannery what he was doing with the knife in his car.

He replied: “Honestly, I forgot the knife was in the car. At that point, I had only been in Buncrana about six weeks.”

“I have a whole collection of knives at home; I have been collecting knives since I was six-years-old. I had them all stored, but I forgot that one was still in the car.”

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Mr Flannery told the judge that he works in a shop in Buncrana.

The judge was shown a photo of the knife, which had a pink/purple coloured handle.

“It’s a nasty-looking knife, and obviously having it in the car is a difficulty in terms of whether it might or might not be used.”

She imposed a fine of €200 for the offence, with five months to pay.

Judge Gearty also made a destruction order for the confiscated flick-knife.

“That’s one less knife for your collection,” she told Mr Flannery, as he left the courtroom.