Dismembered body in canal identified

Kenneth O’Brien was reported missing on Friday, and his torso was found by passers-by in the Grand Canal near Celbridge, Co Kildare, on Saturday afternoon.

He had recently returned from Australia and was last seen in the early hours of Friday when he left his home on the Lealand Road in Clondalkin saying he was going to work.

Mr O’Brien was identified using DNA analysis after his killers decapitated him and cut off his hands, arms and feet.

Superintendent Gerry Wall said: “It is a particularly gruesome crime and the brutality of it could not be overstated.”