Two Dublin men found guilty of the drive-by murder of a 25-year-old father of one outside Cloverhill Prison have each been sentenced to life imprisonment at the Central Criminal Court.
Mr Justice Michael Peart said when delivering sentence on the co-accused that "this was as cold, calculated and premeditated a slaying of a young man as can be imagined".
After sentencing Thomas Hinchon (25), Clondalkin, and Brian Kenny (36), Finglas, to mandatory life imprisonment for the murder of Jonathan O'Reilly, the judge sentenced Kenny to three years for threatening to kill Joseph O'Callaghan (20), and Hinchon to 18 months on the same charge.
Kenny was also sentenced to three years for having a Beretta shotgun and to 12 months for having ammunition. All sentences are to run concurrently and are back-dated to May 2004.
Yesterday a jury found Hinchon guilty of the murder of Mr O'Reilly after deliberating for almost 15 hours and spending two nights in a hotel. On Tuesday evening the jury returned a majority guilty verdict to murder on Kenny and they also found both accused guilty on the charge of threatening to kill Mr O'Callaghan.
On Monday evening the jury delivered two further guilty verdicts on Kenny on the charges of having a firearm and ammunition after deliberating for four hours and 45 minutes before retiring to a hotel overnight.
Both Kenny, Kilshane Cross, Finglas, Co Dublin and Hinchon, St Ronan's Close, Clondalkin, denied the murder of Mr O'Reilly, St Mark's Gardens, Clondalkin, on April 17th, 2004. Kenny and Hinchon also denied threatening to kill Mr O'Callaghan on April 17th, 2004 at Finglas.
The court was told that the dead man was shot outside Cloverhill Prison as he sat in a BMW car. A motorcycle drew up beside the car and a number of shots were fired through the car glass and struck Mr O'Reilly, mortally wounding him.
The court heard that the State's main witness, Mr O'Callaghan, is currently in the witness protection programme.
During the trial, the court heard Mr O'Callaghan say he was threatened by both of the accused not to open his mouth to anyone or he would be killed.
The driver of the BMW car in which Mr O'Reilly was shot denied accusations by defence barristers that he "deliberately drove him" to Cloverhill Prison.
Robbie O'Hanlon (23) told the jury that defence barrister John Phelan SC was "making accusations" against him.
"Watch your mouth", Mr O'Hanlon told the barrister. "This fella is making accusations against me. He's also putting my life in danger", he told the court. "You're putting ideas in people's heads, you're bleeding brain dead," Mr O'Hanlon said to the defence barrister.
Mr O'Hanlon agreed that "there was word going around" that revenge was being sought against four men involved in a serious assault in 1996. Two of the men involved have been shot dead, including Mr O'Reilly.