Three men found guilty of Ian Ogle murder
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Ian Ogle died after being assaulted and stabbed beside his home in east Belfast in 2019
Three men have been found guilty of the murder of Ian Ogle in January 2019.
The father of two was 45 when he was beaten and stabbed 11 times, just yards from his home at Cluan Place in east Belfast.
Walter Ervine, 43, of Litchfield Street in Belfast, Glenn Rainey, 38, of Ballyhalbert Caravan Park, and Robert Spiers, 41, of Millars Park in Belfast, were on trial in a non-jury court.
There were cheers in the public gallery when judge delivered his verdict on Friday afternoon.
The three men have each been given a life sentence, with a tariff to be fixed early next year.
Two men had previously admitted killing Mr Ogle.
Jonathan Brown, 39, from Whinney Hill in Dundonald and 45-year-old Mark Sewell of Glenmount Drive in Newtownabbey, were handed life sentences earlier in 2024.
Summarising the case, the judge Mr Justice McFarland said according to a police camera which recorded the incident, it was a 30 second attack involving five men.
He also relayed evidence from a local pastor who prayed with Mr Ogle before the attack after the victim said “they were on their way”.
The pastor added the men arrived with scarves over their faces and attacked with such ferocity they were like a “pack of hyenas”.
Mr Ogle’s cause of death was noted as a stab wound to the chest.
The state pathologist also recorded 37 bruise sites, and a fractured skull from a fall to the a hard surface.
Delivering his verdict, Mr Justice McFarland said this was a “classic joint enterprise case” and not a case of a “crime gone wrong”.
When considering the evidence, Mr Justice McFarland noted an ongoing feud in the area between two factions.
He pointed to a number of factors when making his verdict.
Murder weapons
Of the murder weapons which were found in the Connswater river, there was a baton and a 33cm knife with a serial number which showed it was was bought as part of a knife set.
During a search of Spiers’ home, there was a six-knife set of that brand and the 33cm knife was missing.
Mr Justice McFarland said given that, the evidence was supportive that he carried and used that knife in the murder of Ian Ogle.
On the night of the murder, he noted a lack of phone calls between the five men for 43 minutes in which time Mr Ogle was attacked which could infer that they were either together or had a plan not to be in contact.
The phones were taken off the network at around the same time later that evening.
The phones were never recovered by police.
“The only sentence I can pass is a life imprisonment”, said the judge, adding that fixing of the tariff would take place in January.
“Take them down,” he said as many of those in the public gallery applauded.
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