Sister who "staged" musician's suicide to help murderer brother may have rest of sentence suspended

A Sligo woman has been sentenced to four years imprisonment at the Central Criminal Court for staging a crime scene to obstruct the prosecution of her brother, who was convicted of murder the previous week. Janice Brady, aged 29, pleaded guilty to impeding the apprehension or prosecution of her brother between August 2 and 3, 2015, at an address in Sligo. The court heard that Brady placed the deceased's hand on a knife to create a false impression of the circumstances surrounding Martin Kivlehan's death. Mr Justice Michael White noted Brady had already served 28 months in custody and indicated he would consider suspending the remainder of her sentence, conditional on her securing suitable accommodation and supervision. Brady was remanded in custody pending provision of a permanent address to the court on Monday. The judge acknowledged Brady's guilty plea, cooperation during investigation, and her serious heroin addiction as relevant considerations, whilst noting her 73 previous convictions for robbery, theft, and assault as aggravating factors.