Mark Delaney, Sentenced to life imprisonment
In the Central Criminal Court, 54-year-old Joe Delaney has been convicted of the murder of Mark Dwyer and sentenced to life imprisonment. Delaney was also given a 15-year sentence for kidnapping Mr. Dwyer from his home. He is believed to be the first man convicted of a gangland killing in this country.
Imposing sentence, Mr. Justice John Quirke said that Delaney's was a foul and evil crime. He said that he had recruited others, including his own son to abduct Mark Dwyer, before subjecting him to unspeakable savagery. He had shown no mercy or remorse and was entitled to no mercy.
During the trial the jurors requested and were given Garda protection after complaining of intimidation and fears for their safety after the trial has concluded. 54-year-old Joe Delaney, with an address near Naas in County Kildare had denied the murder and false imprisonment of Mark Dwyer in December 1996.
Joe Delaney has been described by the prosecution in the trial as a senior figure in what they called the gangland killing of Mark Dwyer. Drugs, they claim, were the motive and Mark Dwyer was shot dead after being tortured for a number of hours in a revenge killing, after 40,000 ecstasy tablets, ordered by Joe Delaney, went missing.
Joe Delaney, the prosecution said, was the boss who ordered Mark Dwyer's kidnapping and murder. During the course of the trial one juror was excused and the remaining eleven have been given Garda protection and all but those involved in the trial have been excluded from the courtroom.
