HUNTER HITMAN FACES 28 YEARS FOR KILLING TAMWORTH FARMER

A Cessnock man hired to kill Tamworth farmer, Jeffrey Ryan, has been sentenced to spend at least 28 years behind bars.

Mr Ryan’s body was found in a paddock on his property in October 2009. He’d suffered gunshot wounds to his abdomen.

Mr Ryan’s estranged wife Helen hired hitman Kenneth Brooks to kill her husband, and was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment last December.

Today Brooks learned his fate, with Justice Fullerton saying the killer showed a complete lack of remorse and contrition, but that the offence didn’t fall within the worst category.

Brooks will be eligible for parole in 2038.