A man who helped a criminal gang murder a rival drug dealer in Dublin has been jailed for eight years.
Matthew Bell, aged 25, of Ambervale, Cookstown, Dublin, drove the gunmen away from a burning getaway car after John Gibson was shot dead in the car park at City West Shopping Centre on 18 September 2017.
The 28-year-old father of two was shot as part of a gang feud.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott today described Bell as "an essential cog in the gang's operation" which led to the murder.
Bell used a black Opel Corsa to pick up the gunmen after they got out of the getaway car, which was burned out following the murder of Mr Gibson.
The Opel Corsa was his mother’s car, but his parents were out of the country at the time.
Mr Gibson, a convicted drug dealer, was shot as part of a feud between two Clondalkin criminal gangs, as he sat in his car in the car park.
When arrested, Bell told gardaí he had been out "driving and smoking and listening to music" on the night of the murder.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
He blamed what he said was "his own stupidity and drug taking" for his involvement, expressed remorse and acknowledged there were no words that could be said that could make up for what he had done.
Mr Justice McDermott described the killing as a "cold-blooded murder carried out in a public place" and said Bell's decision to use his own mother's car indicted his "lack of suitability to his assigned role" in the gang.
He sentenced him to nine years and three months, with the final 15 months suspended.
Speaking outside the Central Criminal Court, Mr Gibson’s mother Tara Gibson said that while she was "happy" with the sentence handed down, she said she had hoped Bell would have been jailed for longer.
"I only hope they catch the other ones responsible," she said. "They are still out there."
