Massereene Trial: Brian Shivers condannato ad almeno 25 anni di carcere

Shivers jailed for 25 years

Brian Shivers must serve 25 years in prison for the murders of two soldiers, who were gunned down in a dissident republican gun attack at Massereene barracks in Antrim nearly three years ago.

Judge Mr Justice Anthony Hart handed down the minimum tariff at Belfast Crown Court on Friday.

But Shivers, 46 and from Magherafelt, is unlikely to outlive the sentence – he suffers from cystic fibrosis and has been given an estimated four to five years to live.

“I am satisfied that appropriate arrangements are being put in place to provide the necessary medical care which Shivers will require in the future,” the judge said.

“Those involved in this very grave crime must receive appropriate punishment.”

Shivers’ defence lawyer had already accepted that the court had a duty to impose a lengthy jail term, after he was found guilty last month of murdering Sappers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar.

Two other soldiers, two pizza delivery men and a civilian security guard were also badly injured, when two gunmen opened fire on them on 07 March 2009.

The soldiers from 38 Engineer Regiment were unarmed and in their desert fatigues, as they prepared to be deployed within hours for a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Shivers was considered by the prosecution not to have been one of the gunmen, but to have been responsible for trying to burn out their getaway car.

His DNA was found on matchsticks recovered from in and around the vehicle which had been abandoned and only partially burnt-out at Ranaghan Road, eight miles from the scene of the attack.

At a pre-tariff hearing last week, a prosecution lawyer urged Mr Justice Hart to impose a custodial term at the higher end of the scale – insisting there were many aggravating factors, including the fact that the murders were politically motivated acts of terrorism.

His former co-accused, high-profile Lurgan republican Colin Duffy, was acquitted of all charges against him at the end of the non-jury trial last month.