A STRABANE man is facing life in prison this week after he was sentenced for the dissident republican murder of a man shot dead in a church car park in Donnyloop almost four years ago.
Martin Kelly had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Andrew Burns who was shot twice in the back by a gunman linked to the dissident republican group, Oglaigh na hEireann. Kelly (37), a bus driver, of Barrack St, was convicted last month of the murder of Mr Burns (27), an unemployed man, at Donnyloop, Castlefin, Co Donegal on February 12, 2008.
He was also found guilty of the unlawful possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life on the same date. Mr Justice Paul Butler, presiding at the non jury court with Judge Alison Lindsay and Judge Cormac Dunne, said that the court had no discretion with regard to the murder conviction and it sentenced him to life imprisonment.
The judge said the court sentenced Kelly to eight years for the firearms offence, and it ordered both sentences to run concurrently and to date from the time Kelly was taken into custody on March 16, 2010. The judge paid tribute to the garda investigation and said they had "let no stone unturned" in their efforts.
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