Teen is jailed for Holland murder

Harry Holland died in hospital a day after he was stabbed near his home

An 18-year-old man who admitted the murder of west Belfast greengrocer Harry Holland has been told he must serve at least 12 years in prison.

Stephen McKee, from Ballymurphy Road, was told there would be no remission on the minimum term of his life sentence.

Patrick Crossan from Willowbank Gardens in west Belfast was sentenced to four years for attempted affray and having an offensive weapon.

A 17-year-old girl was placed on a probation order for two years.

She had admitted charges of affray and common assault.

Speaking after sentencing on Friday, Mr Holland's daughter Sarah said her father had been attacked by a gang in the most vicious fashion.

"They harassed and harangued him, punched a screwdriver through his head, left him to die in the street, threw beer bottles at him and laughed as they ran away," she said.

As Holland family members and friends looked on, Sarah thanked the police murder investigation team and those who had come forward to testify.

However she was critical of the criminal justice system, focusing on both the Public Prosecution Service and the Judiciary.

She also said politicians must take the views of victims on board when policing and justice powers are devolved to the assembly.

The detective who led the murder investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Glenn Wright, paid tribute to members of the west Belfast community for their help in the investigation.

"It was their support that was vital, and pivotal in ensuring those responsible for the brutal murder could be brought to justice," he said.

"It is heartbreaking to think that a man who was so well respected in the community would meet his death in such an horrific and violent fashion.

"Harry's family and friends have suffered a terrible loss, and they will continue to grieve for a very long time.

"I offer my deepest condolences to the Holland family, and sincerely hope that as time passes, their sorrow will ease and that the convictions will offer some comfort."

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said the Holland family had demonstrated "enormous courage and determination in the face of great hardship and grief".

He said he was "deeply dissatisfied with the way this case has been handled by the Public Prosecution Service and with the sentences handed down today".

SDLP west Belfast representatives, assembly member Alex Attwood and Councillor Tim Attwood said they believed there were "unresolved issues" arising from "the approach of prosecution authorities" regarding Mr Holland's death.

"The Holland family have demonstrated, as have many other families, enormous courage and resolve," Alex Attwood said.

"This case and a number of other cases must become the impetus for far-reaching changes in the conduct of prosecution."

Mr Holland, 65, was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver near his home in Norfolk Drive in September 2007.

He died in hospital the next day.