Three men have been handed life sentences after the were found guilty of being part of a gang who murdered Ian Ogle.
As Mr Justice McFarland delivered the guilty verdict against Glenn Rainey (38), Walter Ervine (43) and 41-year old Robert Spiers, the family and friends of Ian Ogle cheered from the public gallery.
Mr Ogle, a 45-year old father-of-two, was beaten and stabbed 11 times yards from his Cluan Place home at around 9.20pm on Sunday January 27 2019.
The 30-second attack, which was branded as “savage” by Mr Justice McFarland, was carried out by five men whose images were captured walking to and from Cluan Place on CCTV from a Glider Bus stop on the Albertbridge Road.
In February of this year, Jonathan Brown (39) from Whinney Hill in Dundonald and 45-year old Mark Sewell of Glenmount Drive in Newtownabbey were handed life sentences after they pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Ogle.
Their three co-accused - Rainey (38) whose address was given as Ballyhalbert Caravan Park, Irvine from Litchfield Street in Belfast and Spiers from Millars Park in Dundonald - all denied the charge and were the subject of a non-jury trial.
In a lengthy ruling delivered at Belfast Crown Court on Friday, Mr Justice McFarland said that whilst he paid little weight to several pieces of evidence presented during the trial, such as Rainey’s DNA being found in the car used to transport the murder gang, he found other evidence compelling.
This included both Rainey and Ervine leaving Northern Ireland immediately after the murder and a knife which the Crown say was used in the attack being found deposited in the Connswater river and which matched a seven-piece knife set found in Spiers home which was missing one of the items.
Mr Justice McFarland said he had also taken into account the failure of all three men to take the stand during the trial and offer an explanation for the allegations against them.
Saying he “could not identify any evidence that points away” from any defendants, the senior judge said: “In all the circumstances I am satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt that Rainey, Erskine and Spiers were part of the group of five men, the others being Brown and Sewell, that murdered Ian Ogle at Cluan Place, and I find each guilty.”
The judge then ordered all three men to stand up and said: “Each of you has been convicted of the murder of Ian Ogle.
“The only sentence I can pass is life imprisonment and I now pass that sentence.
“You will each be taken into custody and produced at a later time for sentencing, which will be some time in January.
“The sentence will be for the fixing of a Tariff, that is the minimum period which you are required to serve before you will be considered for release.”
Mr Justice McFarland then told prison staff “take them down” and the family and friends of Mr Ogle cheered again from the public gallery as the trio were led from the dock and into custody in handcuffs.
