Father says he strangled two sons 'to spare them pain of a broken home'

A man has pleaded guilty to murdering his two sons in Co Mayo last year.

Sanjeev Chada from Ballinkillen, Co Carlow strangled the boys at Ballintubber on July 29 – telling gardaí afterwards that he wanted to spare them coming from a broken home.

Ten-year-old Eoghan Chada and his five-year-old brother Ruairí were reported missing to gardaí when they did not return from a Sunday evening bowling trip with their father.

Their bodies were found the following afternoon in the boot of Sanjeev Chada's car, which he had crashed into a stone wall near Westport in Co Mayo, many miles from the family home in Carlow.

The 44-year-old had strangled the boys with a rope before making an attempt on his own life.

Today in court he kept his head bowed as he pled guilty to their murders.

He told gardaí he killed his sons to spare them the pain of a broken home after he was believed to have defrauded €56,000 from community funds to bet on the stock market.

He later said he did not think anyone could have made a bigger mistake.

In her victim impact statement, the boys' mother Kathleen called the killings a betrayal and asked how can evil such as this be hidden for so long in a seemingly loving father.