Killer’s illness won’t sway term

The limited life expectancy of an ill dissident republican convicted of murdering two British soldiers should not influence the length of his jail term, his defence lawyer has accepted.

Co Londonderry cystic fibrosis sufferer Brian Shivers, 46, was sentenced to life last month after being found guilty of the murders of Sappers Patrick Azimkar, 21 and Mark Quinsey, 23, outside Massereene Army barracks in Antrim on 7 March 2009.

His lawyer, Pat O’Connor QC, told Belfast Crown Court his client had only four or five years to live. He acknowledged judge Justice Antony Hart was duty-bound to impose to a minimum term that was much longer.