A CONVICTED KILLER has received a sentence of two years imprisonment after he admitted threatening a witness in a manslaughter case.

Michael Kinsella (24) pleaded guilty in December 2015 to the manslaughter of Adil Essalhi, who received more than 50 stab and chop wounds before his body was burnt and left in a ditch in west Dublin nearly five years ago.

Kinsella, formerly of Swiftbrook Close, Tallaght, Dublin and Ardkeen, Cavan is already serving a 15-year prison term for his part in the unlawful killing at Tyrellstown on 6 January, 2011. His uncle Wayne Kinsella was convicted of murdering Mr Essalhi in 2012.

Today Kinsella pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to a charge of intimidation of a witness in a criminal investigation in October 2011.

Detective Garda Brendan O’Hora told the court that Kinsella sent a text from his own mobile phone to a woman who had made statements to gardai investigating Mr Essalhi’s murder.

The text said: “Me Dad says you had better have the gardaí at school with ye. I’m gonna break Big Donna’s house.”

Detective Garda O’Hora said that at the time the witness was living with a relative named Donna.

Judge Terence O’Sullivan said there was a threat of violence in the text which would have been taken seriously by the victim.

He commented that intimidation of witnesses was something he took seriously and it was occurring on an unfortunate basis around the country.

He said this offence was at the moderate to lower end of the scale of these offences. He imposed a two year sentence to run concurrent to his current term of imprisonment.