Aaron Brady has been handed the mandatory life sentence for the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe.
The 29-year-old, from Crossmaglen, Co. Armagh, shot Detective Donohoe from close range.
That was during an armed robbery outside a credit union in County Louth in 2013.
"58 Senseless Seconds Changed Everything"
Adrian Donohoe’s wife Caroline was the one who identified her husband’s body.
She went to the scene at Lordship CU in Louth on the night of January 25th, 2013.
In her victim impact statement today, she said it breaks her heart every time she passes the credit union.
She said their life together was just perfect until just “58 senseless seconds” changed everything forever.
Aaron Brady was the one who pulled the trigger from close range that night.
So he’ll now have to serve a minimum of 40 years in prison for it.
He was also handed a 14-year concurrent sentence for the robbery of €7,000 from a credit union worker.
Mr Justice Michael White today sentenced Aaron Brady to life imprisonment for the Capital Murder of Detective Garda 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. pic.twitter.com/C2kEfrLYPD— Courts News Ireland (@courtsnewsIRL) October 14, 2020
A Dedicated Garda - Detective Garda Donohoe
Before sentencing him, Mr J Michael White described Detective Donohoe.
Adrian Donohoe was “dedicated Garda," he said.
Additionally he said, Mr Donohoe was rooted in his community and committed to his vocation as a police officer.
He described Aaron Brady’s behaviour in the lead up to the robbery, and his nonchalant visit to his girlfriend after he killed Det Donohoe as “difficult for the court to comprehend”
