AARON BRADY HAS been sentenced to life in prison for the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe.
Under the Criminal Justice Act 1990 the judge was required to state that Brady must serve a minimum term of imprisonment of 40 years.
Mr Justice White also sentenced Brady to 14 years for robbery, a sentence that will run concurrently with the life sentence.
Brady was found guilty by an 11 to one majority jury verdict on 11 August this year following trial.
He was sentenced today in the Central Criminal Court. Special arrangements were made to allow gardaí at Dundalk Garda Station and others to watch the proceedings remotely.
Adrian Donohoe was on active duty when he was killed on 25 January 2013 at Lordship Credit Union, Bellurgan, Co Louth.
Brady was last month convicted of involvement in the robbery of €7,000 at the Credit Union on this date.
Speaking at a sentence hearing for her husband’s murderer, Caroline Donohoe said no words can express the impact on her life, the lives of her children and their family, colleagues and friends who all loved Adrian.
“We had a loving, happy family, but in just 58 senseless seconds everything changed forever,” she told the Central Criminal Court today.
She visited the scene less than an hour after the shooting and identified her husband’s body.
“I will never recover fully from what I had to see,” she said, adding: “My heart breaks every time I pass there and sometimes I can’t get the images out of my mind for hours. Nothing and nobody will ever replace Adrian in our home.”
Detective Garda Donohoe’s parents Hugh and Peggy, in a written statement read by their son Alan, said the murder was “a waste of a good man for such an evil and pointless act”.
They added: “We visit his grave every week, which is some comfort, but it’s no place for him. He should be here with us living his life.”
Garda response
In a statement released after the sentencing, An Garda Síochána said that today “has been another traumatic step” for Adrian Donohoe’s family, friends and Garda colleagues.
“Aaron Brady was just one member of a criminal gang on that day. This criminal investigation remains live as the other members of that gang remain to be brought before the courts; the commitment and tenacity of the investigation team based at Dundalk Garda Station to bring all suspects to justice remains steadfast.”
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said: “My thoughts and those of the Garda Organisation are once again today with Adrian Donohoe’s family.
“We in An Garda Síochána will continue to support the family, and the friends and colleagues of Adrian. An Garda Síochána’s resolve to bring all the participants in this crime to justice remains firm and the investigation team at Dundalk will continue to be supported by the resources of the wider organisation.”
An Garda Síochána issued an appeal to any person with information about the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe to come forward to detectives with that information. The investigation team can be contacted at Dundalk Garda Station on 042 9388400, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
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