Massereene murderer given 25-year sentence
Updated: 10 February 2012 22:21
A man convicted of murdering two British soldiers in Co Antrim in 2009 has been ordered to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison.
Brian Shivers has been ordered to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison for the murder of two soldiers outside Massereene Barracks in Co Antrim.
Shivers, 46, from Magherafelt, Co Derry, had the sentence handed down to him by Mr Justice Anthony Hart at Belfast Crown Court.
He was given a life sentence last month after being found guilty of the Real IRA murders of sappers Patrick Azimkar, 21, and Mark Quinsey, 23.
Shivers, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, is unlikely to outlive the prison term.
He has an estimated four to five years to live and his lawyer has previously acknowledged that the court had a duty to impose a sentence that is much longer.
Mr Azimkar from London and Mr Quinsey from Birmingham were killed outside Massereene Barracks on 7 March 2009.
Four others, including two pizza delivery men, were seriously injured in the attack, for which the Real IRA claimed responsibility.
Shivers' co-accused, high-profile republican Colin Duffy, 44, from Lurgan, Co Armagh, was acquitted of the murder charges in the non-jury trial at Antrim Crown Court.
DNA on matchsticks found in the partially burned-out Vauxhall Cavalier getaway car used in the ambush and abandoned 12km away proved Shivers' undoing at his trial.
Delivering his reserved judgment in January after a six-week trial, Justice Hart said he was satisfied that he had tried to set the car alight.
The judge had noted that the prosecution accepted that Shivers was a secondary party to the murders.
Shivers was dressed in dark jeans and a grey striped jumper today.
Previously clean-shaven, he wore a beard, and smiled and waved to relatives in the court. He remained silent as the judge detailed the reasons for the jail term.
Justice Hart said a letter from health service officials confirmed they believed Shivers can receive the medical treatment he requires while behind bars.
Staff at Maghaberry Prison are also to receive additional training in dealing with cystic fibrosis.
The court was told that Shivers' condition should not influence sentencing in the circumstances.
In victim impact statements, the mothers of Mr Quinsey and Mr Azimkar outlined the devastation which events on the night of 7 March 2009 had caused.
Geraldine Azimkar said that the colour had been taken from their lives.
Outside the court, senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Justyn Galloway said the hunt for the rest of the gang would continue.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has made a recording of a phone call, made by the killers shortly after the attack, available to the public via its website.
The recording was found on a mobile phone left in the green Vauxhall Cavalier getaway car.