Java client side gif loading problem

Hi. I have a server/client game solution that utilises many gifs in
the course of its life.
However, I have 3 gifs that are PRIORITY and should be loaded at the
start and for speed purposes, should be loaded directly from a local
client side folder.
So I placed them in a folder int the client path so that that floder
would be included in the client jar file.
On expanding the jar file, I have confirmed that the gif folder is
indeed in the package.
This is the code I'm using to load a gif from that folder:

            URL url = getClass().getResource("../images_priority/" +
pi.index + ".gif");
            image = ResourceUtils.getImage(url);

....
    public static Image getImage(URL url) {
        if (url == null) return null;
        Image image = null;
        try {
            image = GraphicsUtilities.loadCompatibleImage(url);
        } catch (IOException ex) {
            ex.printStackTrace();
        }
        if (image != null && image.getWidth(null) > 0) {
            System.out.println("Found the image file: " +
url.toString() + " : " +
                    image.getWidth(null) + "," +
image.getHeight(null));
        }
        else System.err.println("Couldn't find file: " +
url.toString());
        return image;
    }
_______________________

When I run the program from my IDE, everything loads fine.
However, it does not when run from a browser/remote server situation.

Any ideas?