Thursday’s Top Stories: Molly and Thomas Martens sentenced, Peter McVerry Trust bought flats developed by own auditor

Molly and Thomas Martens sentenced to up to 30 additional months in prison over Jason Corbett killing

Molly Martens and her father, Thomas Martens, have been sentenced to serve between seven months and 30 months in prison over the killing of Limerick businessman Jason Corbett in August 2015.

The two were led away in handcuffs from a court in Lexington, North Carolina on Wednesday afternoon following an eight-day sentencing hearing.

Judge David Hall imposed a sentence of a minimum of 51 months and a maximum of 74 months in prison. However, they will receive credit for the 44 months they spent in jail after a trial in 2017 for second-degree murder before those sentences were quashed by an appeal court.

Molly and Thomas Martens sentencing

Victim impact statements in full: What Jason Corbett’s children and sister told the court: Jason Corbett’s children Jack and Sarah Corbett, along with Jason’s sister Tracey Corbett-Lynch, delivered powerful victim impact statements in Davidson County Superior Court in Lexington, North Carolina as part of the sentencing hearing for Molly Martens and her father Thomas.
Thomas Martens will be out of prison by the summer, predicts lawyer: Thomas Martens, who last week pleaded guilty to the voluntary manslaughter of Limerick man Jason Corbett, will be out of prison by next summer, his lawyer has forecast.
Family of Mags Fitzpatrick, Jason Corbett’s first wife, told court ‘what the Martens claimed is totally inaccurate’: The family of Mags Fitzpatrick, Jason’s first wife, sent a powerful statement to the court defending Jason and denouncing the Martens for their attempts to tarnish the love of Jason and Mags and their two children, Jack and Sarah.

Top News Stories

Donal Ryan & Associates was listed as the auditor of the charity from 2006 until last year, annual financial filings show. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill

Peter McVerry Trust bought several apartments developed by its own auditor: The Peter McVerry Trust bought nine apartments in Birr, Co Offaly, that were developed by the former longtime auditor of the homelessness charity, with the sale taking place while his firm was auditing the charity’s accounts.
Vacant Dublin council houses will remain ‘boarded up’ due to funding cuts, official says: Council homes will be left derelict or boarded up in Dublin city next year unless the Department of Housing reverses funding cuts for refurbishment, a senior Dublin City Council official has said.
Higher SUV parking charges and increased resident parking costs to be considered in Dublin: The removal of all free on-street parking within the canals in Dublin city and higher parking charges for SUVs and residential parking permits are to be considered in a review of parking rules next year.
Man arrested after garda fires shot into cab of stolen lorry following 15km pursuit and car-ramming: Gardaí have arrested a man for questioning after an armed officer fired a shot into the cab of a lorry after its driver rammed a number of Garda cars following a 15km pursuit by officers earlier today.
Check out today's Most Read stories
Join The Irish Times WhatsApp channel for breaking news straight to your phone.

News from around the World

Israel reportedly ready to agree to a three-day ceasefire if a number of hostages are released: Qatar, Egypt and the US are reportedly mediating a deal under which Israel will agree to a three-day ceasefire in the fighting in Gaza in return for Hamas releasing 10-15 hostages, including American nationals.
Israel-Hamas war: WHO warns of ‘worrying trends’ in disease in Gaza: The Gaza Strip faces an increased risk of disease spreading due to Israeli air bombardments that have disrupted the health system, access to clean water and caused people to crowd in shelters, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Wednesday.

The Big Read

What that could look like was laid out in speeches by Ursula von der Leyen and Antony Blinken. Photographer: Simon Wohlfahrt/Bloomberg

What happens in Gaza when the bombing stops?: Ask Israel’s closest allies in Europe their assessment of the invasion of Gaza these days and there is not as much difference in their positions to that of Ireland as you might expect.

The best from Opinion

Today's Business

Irish director at Aryzta quits amid tensions over dual chairman-CEO role: Swiss-Irish baking group Aryzta’s only Irish director, Gordon Hardie, has quit the board along with another non-executive amid tension over how long the company’s head should continue in his dual roles of chairman and interim chief executive.

Top Sports news

Corofin had the freshest ideas in football for a spell and we might be learning from them again: I played most of my Galway club football in the 2000s, at a time when players in the full-forward line were not specifically required to do the amount of tracking back that is now second nature for even the laziest of finishers.