Father gets two life sentences for strangling his two sons

Sanjeev Chada has been given two life sentences after pleading guilty to murdering his two sons in Co Mayo.

Mr Chada from Ballinkillen, County Carlow, strangled the boys at Ballintubber on July 29 last year.

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.

Sanjeev Chada strangled the two boys with a rope and then tried to take his own life by crashing his car into a wall near Westport in Co Mayo.

Today in court the 44-year-old kept his head bowed as he pled guilty to their murders.

He told gardaí he had planned the killings several days earlier and that his motive was to save his sons the pain of knowing how bad he had been

The court heard Sanjeev had a gambling problem and that 56,000 had gone missing from a community centre fund of which he was treasurer.

In her victim impact statment the boys' mother Kathleen said: "I thought we were an ordinary family", and she asked "how can evil such as this be hidden for so long in a seemingly loving father?"

Sanjeev Chada has received a double life sentence.