A Dublin man has received a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for trying to have a Canadian couple murdered.

Bryan Kennedy, of Mount Tallant Avenue in Harold’s Cross, agreed to pay €10,000 to have them killed after he found intimate chats online between them and his wife.

In WhatsApp exchanges with a man referred to as Mr X, Bryan Kennedy agreed to pay €10k to have the two women in Canada killed.

Kennedy’s wife told him she didn’t love him anymore after he confronted her about intimate Facebook chats she was having with this couple.

After borrowing from friends and family, he initially handed over €8k on the understanding that Mr X was going to engage a third party to kill them.

He struggled to find the rest and went into hiding after Mr X began threatening him over the outstanding amount.

As it turns out, Mr X was just taking advantage of Kennedy and the Canadian couple’s lives were never in danger.

At his sentence hearing today, the judge said this “grotesque plan” wasn’t spontaneous, nor did he decide to pursue it under duress.

She said he freely and voluntarily entered into it and handed down a five-year prison sentence with the final six months suspended. The sentence won’t take effect until mid-April to allow time to get Kennedy’s affairs in order.