A husband who hired an "unhinged" hitman in a "grotesque plan" to kill a couple who were having an "online affair" with his wife has been jailed for four and a half years.
Bryan Kennedy (35) was sentenced on Monday at the Central Criminal Court by Ms Justice Caroline Biggs to five years' imprisonment with the final six months suspended.
At Kennedy's first sentence hearing in January, Ms Justice Biggs said she wanted to allow time for the child and family agency Tusla to put in place supports for Kennedy's children, so they would not suffer prejudice due to his prison sentence.
Ms Justice Biggs said that while there would be "emotional consequences" for Kennedy's children due to his incarceration, the supports in place would be a "moveable feast" for the children as they grew older.
The judge said that during the suspended six-month portion of the sentence Kennedy is to engage with all training and educational courses and with emotional and mental support facilities recommended by the Probation Service.
Ms Justice Biggs said that Kennedy had been "very, very co-operative" with agencies regarding his children and had attended all appointments with all groups involved to date.
The court previously heard that Kennedy is the primary carer for his children and that his former wife, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair, is unable to provide the required care the children need.
In sentencing Kennedy last January, Ms Justice Biggs said that Kennedy "hatched the plan" to kill his wife's online friends with a man he knew to be "unhinged" and who had previous convictions.
She said the man he attempted to get to carry out the killings, named 'AL' for legal reasons, warned Kennedy that he was embarking on a "dangerous road" but that Kennedy proceeded nonetheless. "His decision to engage in this grotesque plan is not under duress but was voluntary," Ms Justice Biggs said.
Kennedy paid €8,000 to the would-be assassin by taking loans from family and friends.
Personal details
He engaged, the judge said, in a plan to kill two people as well as a discussion as to whether it would be cheaper to kill just one, before electing to kill the couple.
He provided personal details of the two women and accessed his wife's Facebook page in pursuit of his plan.
Ms Justice Biggs said: "This is not a plan that is spontaneous, it is initiated by him and he takes time to think about it and having done so he decides to pursue it. It is not a spontaneous plan born out of rage or bravado, it is planned and meant to be executed."
She said his later decision to pull out was not because he didn't want to have the two women killed but because he came to have doubts about AL's bona fides and started considering whether he could carry out the plan himself.
The judge said the backfiring of the plan was not a mitigating factor but she noted that Kennedy had been threatened and intimidated by AL.
The evidence of one witness was that Kennedy came to be "terrified" of AL.
Ms Justice Biggs said mitigation from that is limited because Kennedy "must have known that if he engages with someone who agrees to be a conduit to kill two people or to himself kill two people, that person is dangerous and unhinged."
Det Sgt O'Malley told Mr McGinn that Kennedy had been "extremely" co-operative with investigating gardaí.
Mr McGinn said his client had admitted both his "culpability and criminal intent" in soliciting AL to kill the couple but that there was "no credible threat" in the matter except to Kennedy himself and his family.
He said Kennedy was "forthright" with gardaí in his admissions and was "completely out of his depth in circumstances out of his control".
The barrister said Kennedy's way of dealing with the situation was "entirely wrong, and criminally wrong" and that his inability to cope with the situation led to his client "trying to disappear".
The barrister said Kennedy had been "unproblematic" when dealing with the probation services and was "inherently unlikely to be before the court again".
