Judy Moran and Geoffrey Armour jailed for at least 21 years for the murder of Des 'Tuppence' Moran

JUDY Moran has protested her innocence after being jailed for 21 years for the murder of Des "Tuppence'' Moran.  

Judy Moran

GANGLAND widow Judy Moran has protested her innocence after being sentenced to a maximum 26 years' jail for orchestrating and playing a hands-on role in the murder of her brother-in-law Des "Tuppence'' Moran.

Moran, now 66, sat defiantly as Justice Lex Lasry announced she would have to serve at least 21 years before becoming eligible for parole.

"Sir you are wrong, I am innocent," the matriarch told the judge from the dock.

The Moran family matriarch had pleaded not guilty to murder, claiming she was at her son Mark's gravesite at Fawkner Cemetery on the morning of June 15, 2009, when Tuppence was gunned down in his favourite Ascot Vale cafe.

A jury did not believe her.

Instead, they found her guilty in March of having driven gunman Geoff Armour and his mate Michael Farrugia to and from the hit and later disposing of evidence in a hidden safe before dumping the getaway car.

During her trial, prosecutor Mark Rochford, SC, said the murder was motivated by a financial dispute and a mutual dislike between Judy and Des Moran.

In sentencing today, Justice Lasry said Moran had showed no sign of remorse.

"The evidence suggested that the relationship between you and Desmond Moran had been hostile for some time," Justice Lasry said today.

"In addition, I am of the view that you expected the killing of Desmond Moran to result in some financial benefit to you, although the exact nature of that benefit is not clear.

"With your approval and participation the murder of Desmond Moran was carried out in a public place in a brutal and violent manner."

At earlier plea hearings, defence counsel Bill Stuart said Moran was an "old'' woman for her age who would "do her time much harder'' because of her poor health and few remaining friends.

Farrugia, 46, gave evidence against Moran at her trial.

In December last year, Farrugia was sentenced to four years' jail with a minimum of two.

Today, Justice Lasry also ruled against an application launched by the Director of Public Prosecutions to seize proceeds from the $1.07 million sale of Moran's Moonee Ponds home.

Earlier today Geoffrey Leslie Armour, also known as "Nuts'', stood with a stern facade as Justice Lasry handed him an identical sentence to Moran in the Supreme Court.

Armour, now 45, shot Des Moran seven times inside the Ascot Pasta & Deli Cafe on June 15, 2009, while enacting a kill plot conceived by Judy Moran.

He was sentenced to a maximum 26 years and ordered to serve at least 21 years.

A jury found that Judy Moran drove Armour, and a mate of his by the name of Michael Farrugia, to and from the murder.

Earlier this year, gangland war survivor and Moran family friend Bert Wrout told the Herald Sun the slaying of Tuppence was "out of hand''.

"That was one of the most brutal, callous acts that anyone could perform,'' Wrout said of Armour's crime.

In sentencing today, Justice Lasry said it was a deliberate and brutal killing carried out for personal gain.

"Whatever else might be said about Desmond Moran, at the time of his death he was utterly defenseless," Justice Lasry said.

"It follows that you have carried out the crime of murder in circumstances where you have done it purely for financial gain and where you have been prepared to participate in the planning and completion of the killing at the instigation of Judith Moran."

Armour's de facto, Suzanne Kane, was in court today.

She had already pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder for trying to help Armour avoid police detection.

She received a suspended sentence.