The driver of the getaway car used after the murder of Eddie Ryan Snr in a Limerick bar was sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter yesterday. Seven years of the sentence were suspended.
Mr Justice Henry Abbott said the sentence for the "heinous" killing of Mr Ryan reflected the "vile and outrageous proportions" the Limerick feud had taken on.
In sentencing Paul Coffey (26), the judge described Mr Ryan's killing in November 2000 as a "quantum leap" in a feud that now involved "subversive groups acting with arms".
However, he suspended seven years of the prison sentence for Coffey, who was described in court as a "fall guy" and "not the brightest in the world", saying he was not the main player and was "easily led".
Mr Ryan (41) was shot by two men with handguns who burst into the Moose Bar in Limerick where he was drinking on November 12th, 2000, after the funeral of his brother-in-law.
His death, from 11 gunshot wounds, followed a series of increasingly serious gang crimes that began with a schoolyard fight between two girls from the feuding families, the Ryan and Keane-McCarthy clans.
The gunmen fired another seven shots leaving the bar, and although Mr Ryan was clearly the target, three drinkers were also injured, one seriously.
The court heard yesterday that Coffey agreed to drive a stolen car for the gunmen and set fire to it after helping them escape.
But he did not know what was planned, although he realised they were going to shoot someone when they donned balaclavas in the car, the court heard.
Coffey, who has prior convictions for weapons and violent offences and suffered from learning difficulties at school, apologised to the Ryan family for his part in the killing.