Thirty-four year old Joseph Byrne was jailed today for giving his friend a gun which he then used to attack his next door neighbour.
Sinead Connolly was left with catastrophic and irreversible spinal injuries after her neighbour, Dean McCarthy, attacked her in her flat at Bernard Curtis House on Bluebell Road, Dublin 12.
It is reported that Dean had been harassing Sinead for a number of weeks. It was only when Sinead's friends came to Dean's flat to ask him to stop, that he sought out a gun.
Dean got the fire arm within minutes from his friend Joseph Byrne, who had grown up with Sinead.
Dean kicked open the door of Sinead's home and opened fire on her and her daughter. Sinead's daughter quickly hid under the table. Sinead however, suffered life-long injuries.
Outside the court this morning, Sinead's aunt Margaret Walsh said the men had "no regard for life" and they were able to get a gun "like you'd get a packet of cigarettes".
Joseph Byrne pleaded guilty to gun offences and apologised to his victim. The judge gave him 11 years in prison, with the final 18 months suspended. Dean McCarthy is serving a 15-year sentence for attempted murder.
