Keith Brady jailed for life for murder of Sligo musician Martin ‘Matt’ Kivlehan

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Keith Brady, 32, of Cartron Estate, Sligo, was sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment at the Central Criminal Court on November 18th, 2019, after a jury found him guilty of murdering Martin ‘Matt’ Kivlehan. Mr Justice Alex Owens backdated the sentence to November 24th, 2016, when Brady first entered custody.

Brady had denied murdering Mr Kivlehan at the victim’s home at New Apartments, Holborn Street, Sligo, on August 2nd or 3rd, 2015. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but the Director of Public Prosecutions rejected that plea. A jury of eight men and four women took one hour and 25 minutes to return its murder verdict following a two-week trial.

It was Brady’s third trial for the same offence. In the first, the jury could not agree a verdict. The second collapsed in December 2018 after a Prime Time programme aired opinions that the trial judge said were likely to have influenced the jury.

In a statement to the court, the victim’s brother, Christopher Kivlehan, said the family were deeply shocked and appalled at the manner of his death. The judge thanked the jury and exempted its members from further service for five years.