Former soldier jailed for three years over east Belfast UVF weapons stash.

Posted by Jim on July 8, 2026

Bryce Pounder with a PAF flag

John Cassidy

7 Jul 2026 4:15 PM

A former soldier was today (Tuesday) jailed for three years for storing explosives, firearms and ammunition linked to east Belfast UVF.

Bryce Pounder (38), of Parker Street off the Newtownards Road in east Belfast, had previously pleaded guilty to possessing explosives in suspicious circumstances and possessing articles for use in terrorism.

The defendant also admitted possessing a firearm and ammunition in suspicious circumstances.

Belfast Crown Court heard that police searched his home under warrant on November 18, 2022.

During a search of his apartment on the lower Newtownards Road, police recovered a “dismantled pipe bomb’’, a handgun, silencer and assorted ammunition.

The items were examined by forensic scientists who described the ‘dismantled pipe bomb’’ as being made up of a copper pipe, with two end caps which contained 11.9 grams of small arms propellant.

The weapon found was an 8mm blank firing pistol designed to resemble a Beretta handgun along with a 8mm magazine and nine blank cartridges.

It was the prosecution case that the blank firing pistol had originally been orange in colour and was subsequently painted black.

Said the prosecution: “It was wrapped in a tea towel and an examination revealed that Pounder’s DNA was found on it.

“Police also recovered a sound moderator, or silencer, inside a sock along with 98 cartridges of various calibres.

“DNA was recovered from the moderator and the sock and the defendant could not be excluded from touching the items.

“The defendant’s fingerprints were found on the exterior of one of the bags containing the ammunition.

“The firearm items were found inside a plastic wrapped in masking tape and the defendant’s fingerprints were also found on the lid of the box.’’

Pounder’s DNA, the court heard, was found on the masking tape on the outside of the box.

The prosecutor said police also recovered “UVF clothing and insignia’’ but Pounder faced no membership charges over the proscribed organisation.

Pounder was not at home at the time of the search and he was detained at another address where detectives believed he was hiding to evade arrest.

During interviews at the serious crime custody suite at Musgrave police station, Pounder accepted that he knew the ammunition was in the plastic box and confirmed he knew about the presence of the “dismantled pipe bomb’’, firearm and silencer.

He said he opened the bags and knew what the handgun was because he was a former rifleman with a regiment in Yorkshire

Pounder told detectives that he had amassed a £1,800 drug debt and had been approached by “menacing individuals’’ and was asked to keep the items. He claimed he was told if he complied the “slate would be wiped clean’’.

He said he stored the items out of “fear for his safety’’ and denied he was a member of east Belfast UVF.

Defence barrister Neil Connor KC revealed Pounder served in the British Army for a period of time before he was medically discharged due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Mr Connor said Pounder’s involvement stemmed from owing money for cocaine and that he was subsequently “preyed upon’’ and “exploited’’ and “may have come under a degree of pressure to store the items in his home’’.

The defence barrister said his client was a “temporary custodian of these items for other more involved individuals” and that Pounder never intended to use them himself.

Mr Connor added that Pounder was a hard-working industrious father-of-three who has expressed remorse and regret for his involvement.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Fowler said the moderator or silencer was “capable of facilitating the use of a firearm and therefore potentially became dangerous in conjunction with a suitable weapon’’.

“This would result in a lethal device but there is no evidence that either the moderator or ammunition had been used, instead they were being stored by this defendant on his premises.

“I am satisfied that they were not held for a lawful purpose, rather they were retained on behalf of a loyalist paramilitary organisation and then to be returned to that organisation.’’

He accepted that there was no evidence that the defendant had any allegiance to a loyalist paramilitary organisation.

The senior judge said Pounder’s offending arose from the “situational pressures’’ exerted on him by those who owned the terrorist haul over his drug debt and his subsequent “vulnerability to coercion’’.

Mr Justice Fowler said that since his detection, Pounder has “disengaged with former associates’’ and has stopped consuming drugs.

“I do not find the defendant to be a danger to the public in the future,’’ added Mr Justice Fowler.

Pounder was sentenced under the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021.

Under the legislation, the defendant will have to serve two thirds of his sentence before he is eligible to apply to the Parole Commissioners to be released.

If the Parole Commissioners decide it is not safe to release him back into the community at that point, Pounder will serve a further year in custody before being released on supervised licence for a period of 12 months.

The court ordered the destruction of all material seized.