Two teenagers have been jailed for nine years each for the “brutal” murder of gunman Tristan Sherry, who was beaten to death after he shot and fatally wounded gangland figure Jason Hennessy Snr in a busy restaurant on Christmas Eve two years ago.
Before their trial commenced last year, the High Court found that a law requiring that the pair face a mandatory term of life imprisonment should they be convicted and reach the age of 18 before their sentencing hearing was unconstitutional.
They are also the first two defendants to be sentenced after a landmark Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that a life sentence is not mandatory in the case of child murderers and should only be used in exceptional cases.
Three others, including Hennesy Snr’s son, Brandon Hennessy (22), were jailed for a combined eight years and four months for violent disorder during the attack on Sherry.
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David Amah (19) of Hazel Grove, Portrane Road, Donabate was convicted of murder following a trial at the three-judge, non-jury Special Criminal Court.
Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo today sentenced Amah to 12 years with the final three years suspended. He noted that Amah was 17 at the time of the offence and therefore is not subject to the mandatory term of life imprisonment for murder.
Mr Justice Naidoo said the offence did not involve any pre-planning and a probation report put Amah at a low risk of reoffending.
The judge imposed a similar sentence on an 18-year-old also convicted of murder but who cannot be named because he was a minor when he first came before the court.
Both Amah and the unnamed accomplice stamped on Tristan Sherry and stabbed him repeatedly. Their actions were deliberate, Mr Justice Naidoo said, and took place during a “sustained and brutal attack on an unarmed, defenceless man lying on the ground”.
On Monday, Mr Justice Naidoo sentenced Brandon Hennessy of Sheephill Avenue, Dublin 15 to four-and-a-half years with the last six months suspended for one year. The judge accepted that the killing of his father was a mitigating factor in Hennessy’s favour.
Jonas Kabangu (19) of Corduff Park, Blanchardstown, received a sentence of four years in prison with the final 12 months suspended for two years.
Mr Justice Naidoo sentenced the third violent disorder defendant, an 18-year-old who can’t be named because he was a child when he came before the courts, to two years and four months, with the final year suspended for two years.
