Eubank Jr's trainer thanks prison for "hospitality" after bringing gun into UK
A US boxing trainer who brought a gun into the UK and walked free from court because he’d forgotten it was in his suitcase has "thanked" a prison for their "hospitality".
Brian "Bomac" McIntyre, 53, received a suspended sentence due to “exceptional circumstances”. The renowned trainer was in the UK to train Chris Eubank Jr but had forgotten the weapon and ammunition was in a section of his suitcase, a court heard.
The automatic self-loading pistol was missed after he landed in the UK in August but picked up by Manchester Airport officials as he prepared to fly home. McIntyre, who has spent five weeks in custody awaiting his sentence, walked from court on Monday, after a judge accepted the trainer was a "thoroughly good" man who had forgotten the weapon was inside his luggage.
After his release he posted on Instagram : "Thank you HMP Birmingham Prison for your hospitality for the five weeks. All the guards and inmates was nice and cool. Sorry I couldn't stay longer but do to my outstanding legal team from the USA and London I have to get back to work..."
Chris Eubank junior posted: "I'm happy to say coach is out of jail and on his way back home." Manchester crown court heard McIntrye was “horrified” when the gun was found. Police body-cam footage of the moment the weapon was found, played in court, showed McIntyre saying: "I swear to God, man, I swear I didn't know that gun was in the bag."
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The court heard in the weeks before his flight from Atlanta to Manchester the defendant had flown extensively inside the US. One of the trips was to Las Vegas where Terence Crawford, who he trains, became the undisputed world welterweight champion in July.
In a basis of plea, accepted by the prosecution, he put the weapon in the suitcase for a training camp ahead of a fight in Las Vegas, and there was 'never a need to remove it' and he forgot it was there. David Toal, for the prosecution, said a baggage screening agent at the airport flagged McIntyre's suitcase for a further search because an x-ray had revealed a laptop inside it.
A physical search on September 3rd uncovered the gun, which the trainer is licensed to carry in the US, and a magazine with seven rounds of ammunition in a zipped compartment of the case. The Recorder of Manchester, Nicholas Dean KC, imposed a 20-month jail term, suspended for two years after McIntyre admitted unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
He told the defendant, after hearing glowing testimonials, that he had 'a great deal to be proud of in your life’ and was a ‘thoroughly good man’. Recorder Dean added: "But you now have something I think you will be ashamed of for the rest of your life because you were sufficiently careless to carry with you into this country a firearm, a prohibited firearm."
He said the "exceptional circumstances" of the case had merited a departure from the usual five-year minimum jail term. McIntyre from Omaha, Nebraska, received a glowing reference from undefeated world champion Terence Crawford. In court, Terence Crawford described McIntyre as a 'father figure' he had known all his life when he was called to give evidence. "He's an anchor in our community," he said.
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