A man has been handed a life sentence for the murder of an elderly man at a senior citizens’ complex in Dublin.

Kenneth Cummins of Ringsend Park, Dublin 4, was sentenced today after failing to have his guilty plea withdrawn.

His sister, Sabrina Cummins, is serving a life sentence for murdering Thomas Horan (63) at the Cambridge Court complex for senior citizens in Ringsend in January 2014.

Mr Cummins, who also went on trial for murder, changed his plea to guilty just before the jury was sent out, but later applied to have it withdrawn. That application was rejected and his sentence hearing took place today.

Thomas Horan suffered a brutal end. He was tortured during a robbery. The siblings beat him, broke several of his ribs with a stick, suffocated him with a plastic bag and strangled him with a belt.

Kenneth Cummins initially tried to blame the crime on his older sister.