Two found guilty of alley murder

Two men have been found guilty of murdering a father of two in County Antrim three years ago.

Ronald Craig, 19, from Richmond Avenue, Glengormley, and 44-year-old Harry Speers of Carntall Road, Newtownabbey had denied killing Trevor Lowry when they appeared at Belfast Crown Court.

But the judge, Mr Justice Girvan said he was satisified that they had kicked and stamped Mr Lowry to death in March 2001.

They are facing mandatory life sentences.

Mr Lowry, 49, who was attacked in the mistaken belief he was a Catholic, died of severe head injuries two days after he was found in an alleyway in Harmin Parade, Glengormley.

Craig, who was only 16 at the time, claimed he was an innocent bystander and tried to prevent the brutal attack by Speers and another teenager, while Speers denied any involvement at all.

The judge said: "Kicking an unknown victim to death may seem for some just a random act of violence from which some perverted sense of pleasure is derived, but what this dreadful tale starkly illustrates is that every faceless victim of assault or murder is somebody's child, parent, partner or loved one.

"The fact that events like this are now reaching a status of a common place in society points to a dysfunctional sickness at the heart of society fuelled by alcohol and the degraded perceptions of the moral duties man owes to another man.

"The challenge for society, for the courts and for the education system, is how to cope with this dysfunctional attitude and to stop this appalling behaviour and eradicate these twisted attitudes," said Mr Justice Girvan.

There were angry scenes at the court following the verdicts on Tuesday.

Det Insp Jimmy Templeton said it was a very complicated case

Relatives of the two men started to argue and had to be restrained by other family members.

Detective Inspector Jimmy Templeton said: "My thoughts today are with the Lowry family. They asked me to say a few words on their behalf in relation to the trial which has just finished today.

"They would like to thank everybody who came and gave their evidence under very difficult circumstances in a very complicated case.

"There are no winners in this situation."