Secret recordings key to hitman plan

Covert recordings of Gary O’Flynn asking for help to hire a hitman to murder a fraud squad detective, a taxman and an accountant became the key evidence in the case where he was jailed yesterday for three years.

Gary O’Flynn, of Hayfield Drive, Castle Court, Whitechurch, Co Cork, was sentenced at Cork Circuit Criminal Court where he pleaded guilty to three counts of soliciting a man to murder accountant Patrick Sweeney; Revenue official George Ross; and Sergeant Mary Skehan of the Garda Fraud Squad at Anglesea Street, Cork.

Detective Sergeant Denis Lynch said a man who was approached by O’Flynn to get a hitman responded by going to gardaí to report the matter and tell them of his fears.