Murderer given further sentences

A Belfast man sentenced to life in prison last week for murdering a taxi driver, has been given a further 15-year sentence for attempted murder.

Gerard Mackin, 26, was found guilty of shooting dead Edward Burns and the attempted murder of Damien O'Neill at Bog Meadows in west Belfast.

He was the first person convicted by a Dublin court for a murder in NI.

On Friday, he was given a concurrent 15-year sentence for trying to kill Mr O'Neill, in the same incident.

Mackin was also given 10 years for the possession of a revolver with intent to endanger life and 12 years for intentionally causing serious harm to Mr O' Neill.

Mr O'Neill, who was shot twice, was the main prosecution witness at Mackin's trial.

He still has a bullet lodged in his neck following the attack.

Mackin, originally from west Belfast's Whiterock area, had fled to Dublin after the double shooting and opted for trial at the city's Special Criminal Court under the Criminal Law Jurisdiction Act.

The murder victim, Edward Burns, was a 36-year-old father of five. He was killed in March 2007.