A man has been jailed for impeding the apprehension or prosecution of his father for the murder of a man.
Paul Wells Junior of Beatty Park, Celbridge, broke up and hid parts of a chainsaw used in the killing of Kenneth O’Brien.
On January 16th 2016, Kenneth O’Brien’s torso was found by some walkers in a blue suitcase they had pulled from the Grand Canal in Celbridge.
A week later, his head, legs and arms were found in plastic bags that had been weighed down with bricks and dumped in the canal.
A post-mortem revealed a gunshot wound to the back of his head.
Two years later, Paul Wells Senior of Barnamore Park, Finglas, was convicted of his murder, and is serving a life sentence.
Today, his son Paul Junior was jailed for 18 months for impeding his father’s apprehension or prosecution, by dismantling and disposing of the chainsaw used to dismember Mr. O’Brien.
The judge accepted that he came forward and greatly assisted Gardaí with their investigation, but she considered the time it took him to do so.
His delay in coming forward was described as an aggravating factor, which compounded the O’Brien family’s grief.
A member of the family could be heard shouting “it’s an insult” after the sentence was handed down this afternoon.
