Dublin man sentenced after shotgun attack on friend

A Dublin man who shot his friend with both barrels of a sawn off shotgun and then threw him from his car was jailed for 12 years today.

Mr Justice Paul Carney sentenced Jonathan Dunne to 12 years for the attempted murder of Mr Ian Kenny in Stillorgan on July 4, 2007.

He also imposed a 10-year prison sentence on Dunne to run concurrently for the possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life on the same date.

Mr Kenny remains seriously ill in St Vincent's Hospital, has a breathing tube, is fed through a tube and has no control over his bladder or bowels as a result of the attack.

Dunne (aged 23), of Windmill Court, Crumlin pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court on Monday to the attempted murder of Mr Kenny (aged 21), of Monasteraboice Road, Crumlin at Lakelands Road, Stillorgan on July 4, 2007.

Dune told gardaí that he had shot Mr Kenny with a double barrelled sawn off shotgun as a favour he owed to drug dealers because he had lost IR£50,000 worth of drugs when he was a 16-year-old.

Before sentencing Dunne, Mr Justice Carney referred to RTÉ's Joe Duffy, whose 'Liveline' programme yesterday carried an interview with Mr Kenny's mother, Mrs Kathleen Kenny.

"I have not found the interference in this case by Mr Joe Duffy while sentence is a live issue to be helpful,'' he said.

The judge said that he would not have any difficulty if any of the parties wanted to refer the interference of Mr Duffy while sentencing was a live issue to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

He said that any of the parties could make such an application at a later stage if they wished.

The judge said that during the last couple of days he had given very close consideration to imposing a life sentence for two reasons.

Firstly that Mr Kenny's family would hold the view that he has been left in a worse

situation than had the attempt to assassinate him been successful, and that Dunne should not benefit from that.

Secondly, the judge said: "The message must go out from this court in the strongest possible terms that the only option to a person in Dunne's situation is to go to the Garda Síochána and place themselves in whatever programme the gardaí are in a position to make available.''

The judge said it was not acceptable that somebody should come into court and say: I attempted to carry out an assassination on the instructions of a nameless godfather and on that account I should be entitled to claim mitigation.

He said that accepting Mr Dunne's contentions, and he noted that the gardaí were careful not accept his contentions, the only option is for a person to place himself in whatever programme is available.

"Otherwise we are simply handing over to people I am not prepared to hand over control of our lives to,'' he said.

The judge said the attempted murder merited a sentence of 16 years' imprisonment, but because the accused's early guilty plea, his young age and his background in employment, he sentenced him to 12 years imprisonment.

Leave to appeal was refused.