Man already serving life sentence for murder gets 12 years for shotgun possession

Darren Wynne, a 21-year-old from Athy in County Kildare, has been sentenced to an additional 12 years for firearms offences at the Central Criminal Court, to run concurrently with his existing life sentence for murder. Wynne was convicted in July 2014 of murdering Jamie Lindsay, aged 20, on 6 April 2013 in Athy. The jury found that Wynne discharged a sawn-off shotgun at close range, fatally wounding Lindsay. At sentencing on 3 November 2014, Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan imposed 12 years for possession of the sawn-off shotgun and ammunition with intent to endanger life, and eight years for possession of the firearm in suspicious circumstances. The final two years of each sentence were suspended, conditional on Wynne's compliance with his sentence management programme. In determining the firearms sentences, the judge took into account Wynne's youth at the time of the offence, his previously good character, and his cooperation with gardaí during the investigation. The sentences will run concurrently rather than consecutively with his life sentence for murder. Two other men convicted in connection with the same incident received separate sentences in July. Quentin Monaghan, aged 21 from Stradbally, County Laois, and James Seery, aged 21 from Athy, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter and to possession of a sawn-off shotgun in suspicious circumstances. They received sentences of eight and seven years respectively, also with the final years suspended. The case attracted significant attention within the Kildare community, as it involved the fatal shooting of a young man by someone described as his best friend. The sentencing concluded the judicial proceedings relating to this incident, which had progressed from initial charges through trial and conviction during 2013 and 2014.