A 36-year-old man convicted of murdering two men who had arranged to sell him a stolen car told the judge he was innocent as he was sentenced to life in prison.
Jason O'Driscoll, of Richmond Avenue, Fairview in Dublin, had denied the murder of 31-year-old Anthony Burnett and 25-year-old Joseph Redmond in Co Louth in March 2012.
But he was found guilty by a jury in early August.
In a victim impact statement read to the court today, Mr Burnett's mother Marie said her son was the most loving, kind hearted person she knew.
She said he had made some bad decisions in life and paid the price but had spent his final years trying to become a better person. She said it had shattered her heart into a million pieces to have him taken in such a cold hearted way.
Ms Burnett said her son had been killed a week before his 32nd birthday and the family had had to give his presents to a stranger to put beside him in his coffin.
She said his body had been burnt and the family could not have an open coffin. She said she did not know how his killer sleeps at night.
Ms Burnett said that every day felt as raw and empty as the first.
She said the conviction had taken two lengthy trials and they had had to sit through every gory detail of the last moments of Anthony's life.
She told the court it was a heartbreaking and unnecessary process they should not have had to go through.
She said their lives would never be the same again, but knowing justice had now been served they hoped Anthony would be able to rest in peace.
In her victim impact statement, Mr Redmond's mother, Pauline Doran, said her son had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
She said she was devastated and his brother and sister were still traumatised at the violent death inflicted on him.
As the statements were read, O'Driscoll shouted that he was innocent.
Mr Justice Michael White said the two men were executed in a callous, brutal way.
They received a horrific death, he said, they were executed and their bodies burnt. "No human beings deserve that", he said.
O'Driscoll told the judge the jury had got it wrong.
But Mr Justice White said the court had a duty to act on the jury's decision and sentenced him to the mandatory sentence of life in prison on each count.
He also paid tribute to the work of An Garda Síochána in the investigation.
Outside court, retired detective inspector Patrick Marry said it had been a difficult investigation and he paid tribute to the members of the public who came forward with information.
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In evidence the court heard emergency services were called to a burning car in a lay-by at Ravensdale Forest Park on the night of 7 March 2012.
The two men had died of gunshot wounds to the head before the car was set on fire.
The State case was that O'Driscoll had been at the scene with another man and had participated in the murders.
A previous jury failed to reach a verdict in the case last year.
