Michael Andrecut sentenced to life for Tristan Sherry’s murder

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

Michael Andrecut was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Tristan Sherry at the Special Criminal Court on 10 April 2025. Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo imposed the mandatory sentence.

Sherry was killed at Browne’s Steakhouse in Blanchardstown on 24 December 2023, after he shot and fatally wounded Jason Hennessy Snr. Sherry was disarmed and beaten to death.

Andrecut, David Amah and a third defendant had pleaded not guilty to murder. On 17 February 2025, the three-judge court found them guilty. Jonas Kabangu, Brandon Hennessy and a third defendant were convicted of violent disorder arising from the same incident. All six had pleaded not guilty.

The murder defendants’ lawyers argued that their clients should be convicted of manslaughter because Sherry’s actions caused them a sudden and total loss of self-control. The court accepted that the killing of Jason Hennessy Snr was an “extremely provocative” act, but found that each defendant had an opportunity to consider his actions and rejected the defence argument.

The court found that Andrecut stamped on and kicked Sherry’s head, stabbed him and struck him with an iron bar and a chair. Mr Justice Naidoo said Andrecut engaged in violence only after Sherry had been disarmed and was on the floor.

The three men charged with violent disorder argued that they had acted in self-defence. The court rejected their accounts.

The court also sentenced Juares Kumbu, who had pleaded guilty to a firearms offence, to three years in prison with the final year suspended for two years. The court heard that he removed the gun from the scene and gave it to an unidentified person. Sentencing of the other five convicted defendants was adjourned until May.