A man has been given two life sentences after pleading guilty to murdering his two sons in Co Mayo.
Sanjeev Chada from Ballinkillen, Co Carlow strangled the boys at Ballintubber on July 29th last year.
Eoghan Chada (10) and his brother Ruairí (5) were reported missing to gardaí when they did not return from a Sunday evening bowling trip with their father.
Sanjeev Chada (44) strangled the two boys with a rope, and then tried to take his own life by crashing his car into a wall near Westport in Co Mayo.
Today in court he kept his head bowed as he pleaded guilty to their murders.
The boy's mother Kathleen Chada outside court | Image: Francesca Comyn
He told gardaí he had planned the killings several days earlier - and that his motive was to save his sons the pain of knowing how bad he had been.
The court heard Sanjeev Chada had a gambling problem and that €56,000 had gone missing from a community centre fund, of which he was treasurer.
In her victim impact statement, the boys' mother Kathleen said 'I thought we were an ordinary family' and she asked 'how can evil such as this be hidden for so long in a seemingly loving father?'.
Solicitor Justin Cody gave a statement outside court on behalf of the family.
