Loyalist in feud murder retrial

Willliam Courtney was acquitted of murder

A man cleared of a murder during a loyalist feud must stand trial again, Appeal Court judges have ruled.

William 'Mo' Courtney, 43, was released in November after a judge decided he had no case to answer on a charge of murdering Alan McCullough, 21, in 2003.

It is the first time the Crown appealed against a murder acquittal in NI.

It is believed his new trial will have to be heard in front of a different judge to Mr Justice McLaughlin, who heard the first case.

Courtney is out on bail and was not in court.

The failure to approach the case in this way constituted, in our opinion, an error both in law and in principle Sir Brian Kerr Lord chief justice

Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr heard the Crown's application with Lord Justice Campbell and Mr Justice Coghlin.

Sir Brian said: "We are satisfied that the interests of justice require that the defendant stand trial on the first count of the indictment (murder) that has been preferred against him."

The Crown had not sought a retrial on a second charge of UDA/UFF membership.

Sir Brian said the court was satisfied that if Mr Justice McLaughlin had taken all the evidence into account on an all-encompassing basis he would have found that there was sufficient evidence to raise a prima facie case against Courtney, notwithstanding the frailties of some witness evidence.

"The failure to approach the case in this way constituted, in our opinion, an error both in law and in principle," he said.

The body of Alan McCullough was found in a shallow grave

Alan McCullough, 21, fled to England with other members of UDA leader Johnny Adair's so called 'C Company' when feuding broke out within the organisation.

However, he returned to the Shankill area of Belfast after his family got assurances he would not be harmed.

He was last seen leaving his mother's house in Denmark Street on 28 May, 2003, being driven away in a car.

The body of Mr McCullough, 21, was found in a shallow grave on the outskirts of north Belfast. He had been shot.