A 31-YEAR-OLD man has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering a fellow Dubliner in a feud which is also believed to have since taken the life of the killer’s father.
Paul Kelly (26) of O’Brien Hall in the city died almost instantly when he was shot several times in the head and body on April 6th 2007. The father of two died of catastrophic injuries to a number of his internal organs after being shot nine times with a handgun and twice with a shotgun.
Michael Taylor (31) of Summerhill had pleaded not guilty to his murder in the lobby of Winston Ville apartments on Charlemont Road, Clontarf, where Mr Kelly had been staying.
However, a jury found him guilty by a majority verdict earlier this month following a trial at the Central Criminal Court.
Detective Garda Seán McLoughlin told his sentencing hearing yesterday that Taylor was out on bail for another crime when he murdered Mr Kelly and has since been jailed.
He said he had 26 previous convictions, most of them for road traffic offences. The others were for possession of a flick knife, possession of drugs for sale or supply, conspiracy to commit robbery, criminal damage and handling stolen property.
Det Garda McLoughlin explained that between murdering Mr Kelly and being charged with the crime, Taylor was sentenced to eight years for the drugs offence and five years for conspiracy to commit robbery. He is currently serving those 13 years, he confirmed.
The detective then read a victim impact report prepared by the victim’s mother, Bernie Kelly, who did not want to enter the witness box. “On the 6th of April 2007, just before midnight, I received a call that was to shatter my life forever,” she wrote.
She said her only son, the youngest of the family, but also the man of the family had been taken from her. She said she could no longer bear to be around her daughters or grandchildren as it felt wrong without her son.
She said although she was on medication for her cancer, “I pray God will take me to my baby.”
She said that the family received her son home in a coffin on his daughter’s seventh birthday, and she no longer wanted to celebrate her birthday as other children do. She brought a photograph of him to the church on her Communion day so he would see her. Mr Kelly’s son, who was four when he died, asks about his father every day and was now in counselling for anger issues.
She said that both children told their mother they wanted no gifts the Christmas after their father died; they just wanted him back.
Mr Justice Barry White asked the detective about the background to the killing. “It was a minor feud a number of years ago that developed into a murder,” replied Det Garda McLoughlin.
“Last April his [Taylor’s] father was murdered,” he added.
The judge asked if that killing was part of the feud.
“I would believe it is. It is still under investigation,” he replied.
Mr Justice White told Taylor he should consider himself lucky the State was not insisting on a consecutive sentence to follow the 13 years he was now serving. Instead he backdated the life sentence to run from November 14th, the day the jury convicted him.