Imposing sentence, Mr Justice Hunt said these charges sprang out of the death of Keith Walker in what appeared to have been an “unfortunate case of mistaken identity”. He suspended the final four years of the sentence having regard to mitigating factors in the case, including O’Connor’s guilty plea. Conspiracy to murderHe imposed a sentence of seven years for the conspiracy to murder charge, with both sentences to run concurrently. Before imposing sentence, Mr Justice Hunt noted it had only been possible to access messages on the devices thanks to recent advances in technology. However, he said in light of O’Connor’s guilty plea, the court had decided to “refrain from going down that road”.
