Trio guilty of McFadden murder

Jim McFadden was beaten to death outside his Shantallow home

Three members of the same family have been found guilty of murdering Jim McFadden outside his Londonderry home.

James Meehan, his wife Brenda and her son, Sean Devenney, were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment at Londonderry Crown Court.

The tariffs the trio will serve in jail will be set following a minimum sentence hearing on 17 September.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of James Meehan, who failed to attend court on Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the judge lifted restrictions banning the media from reporting James Meehan's, non-attendance.

Meehan was also found guilty of assaulting Jason Graham, the boyfriend of Mr McFadden's daughter Ashling.

Brenda Meehan was found found not guilty of assaulting Jason Graham, but guilty of assaulting Ashling McFadden.

Members of Mr McFadden's family cried and cheered as the unanimous verdicts were announced.

After the verdicts were announced, members of the McFadden family said they were pleased with the outcome and "hoped and prayed that justice would be done" when sentencing takes place in September.

In a statement referring to what the family described as "the brutal murder of my darling husband, daddy, son and brother," they thanked the PSNI, the prosecution, and paramedics who worked with the dying Jim McFadden at the scene.

The family also thanked the residents of Shantallow for their kindness and support and thanked those who came forward to give evidence during the six-week trial.

Mr McFadden, a father-of-four, died from a ruptured heart sustained in an assault outside his Moyolla Drive home after he, his wife and children had attended the same wedding reception as the Meehans and Sean Devenney in County Donegal.