Father given two life sentences for murdering sons in Ballintubber

Father given two life sentences for murdering sons


Sanjeev Chada pleads guilty to killing of sons Eoghan (10) and Ruairi (5) last year

Niamh O’Donoghue
Central Criminal Court
 
A 44-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his two young sons in Mayo last year.
Sanjeev Chadha of Ballinkillen, Bagnelstown, County Carlow, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday, October 7 last, to murdering Eoghan (10) and Ruairi Chada (5) at Skehanagh Lower, Ballintubber, on July 29, 2013.
Chada was due to stand trial next month but the defence informed the prosecution in September that Chada intended to plead guilty to the murder.
The young boys’ bodies were discovered in the boot of Chada’s car on July 29 after it had crashed into a wall at Rosbeg, Westport with him in the driver’s seat.
Chada, who had ran up gambling debts, told his wife he was taking their sons bowling in Carlow but instead drove to Mayo where he strangled the boys with a rope before trying to kill himself. A Child Rescue Ireland Alert had been issued by gardai the previous day.
The court was told that Chada used €56,000 from community funds to gamble on the stock market but gardaí told him when he went to his local station that no formal complaint had been made against him.

Huge debts
Chada had secretly mounted huge debts from online trading and had borrowed from family and friends and lost large amounts of money.
Mr Grehan said he had €500,000 euro in debt at one stage from gambling other people’s money.
In the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, Mr Justice Paul Carney handed down two mandatory life sentences to run concurrently with each other, and backdated them to July 31, 2013.
Kathleen Chada brought up a picture of the two boys to the stand before reading an emotional victim impact statement to the court.
Mr Justice Carney asked Ms Chada to have a closer look at the photograph before she read the victim impact statement, in which she said her husband had robbed her of everything.
“But how could Sanj have done this? I don’t ask why anymore … just how? He even took Eoghan and Ruairi’s last moments from me.
“Even though he is responsible for their deaths he got to hold them while they were still warm and then just dumped them in the boot of the car taking all dignity from them and abandoning them.
“By the time they were home they were so cold. I struggled to hold them. It broke my heart to have them home with me but not be able to lie between them snuggling as we did so many nights. They couldn’t even spend their last night at home on their own side of the bed because we had to disguise the damage to Eoghan’s head.
“Sanj did not have to bury his children, I did. I stood by that graveside as two white coffins with my whole life in them were laid side by side – big boys now but always my babies.
“There is no more joy in my life – only memories. He has robbed Eoghan, Ruairi and I of everything. He has left me to live a double life sentence everyday with no chance of release in my lifetime.”

Notes
Brendan Grehan SC, defending, said his client had written a number of notes before he killed his sons before attempting to take his own life.
“I could not let you bear the pain of being from a broken home. Mammy is getting rid of me and I could not leave you behind. I have so much to teach you but I could not do that if I was not with you.
“We will be together now in some way … in the most beautiful country, your mate and Daddy.”
In another note to his wife he explained that the ‘pain they were going to witness was going to be too bad for them’. He asked his wife that he be buried with their children.
Chada told gardai he planned to carry out the killings two days beforehand and went out to find a secluded spot.
When asked by gardaí why he killed his children, he said: “Because I love them so much.” When asked what it was all about he replied: ‘Money’.
The then Deputy State Patologist, Dr Khalid Jabbar, carried out post-mortem examinations, which showed the cause of death for Eoghan was asphyxia from ligature strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.
Chada told gardai that he did not remember assaulting Eoghan, causing a fracture to his skull.
The cause of death for Ruairi was asphyxiation from ligature strangulation.
Chada told gardai that he planned to kill his wife also but he did not think he would be able to kill them all together and that she would have been too strong.
Mr Grehan told the court that a psychiatric report had been prepared for the defence.
He believed his marriage to his wife was at an end as a result of his fraud and wanted to spare his children from the pain of coming from a broken home.

‘Truly sorry’
Mr Grehan read a letter penned by Chada, saying he was truly sorry for the hurt he had brought on everyone, but especially his ‘beloved Kathleen, my best friend and most important people in my life’.
Counsel said his client pleaded guilty because “he felt it was the least thing he could do for those who were left.”
Mr Grehan said his client had grown up in an Indian family tradition and did not fulfill his academic potential, wanting to travel instead of pursuing a career.
The psychiatric report stated that Chada suffered ‘cognitive dissonance’ due to his image of himself as a good family man contrasted by his secret debts he had amassed through trading on the stock exchange.
However, the court was told that it did not qualify him for a defence under the Insanity Act.
Mr Grehan said his client has been in the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum where he remains on suicide watch.
Mrs Chadha’s solicitor, Justin Cody, made a statement outside the Criminal Courts of Justice on her behalf.
“Kathleen and her family would like to thank everyone who was involved in the investigation over the last 14 months,” said Mr Cody.
“In all the circumstances the correct verdict was arrived at today, particularly in light of the fact that Eoghan and Ruairi will not be returning home with Kathleen and her family,” he said.
“At this juncture the family would ask that the press would respect their privacy and give them space and time to continue grieving and learning to live without Eoghan and Ruairi,” he added.