Three Men Acquitted in Lyra McKee Murder After Belfast Crown Court Non-Jury Trial

Three men were found not guilty of murdering journalist Lyra McKee in Northern Ireland after a long-running non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court, with Justice Patricia Smyth saying the evidence was insufficient for conviction.

“- Published Three men accused of murdering journalist Lyra McKee in Northern Ireland more than seven years ago have been found not guilty”

BBC

McKee, 29, was shot in the head when a masked gunman fired towards police during riots in Derry/Londonderry in April 2019, and prosecutors said Paul McIntyre, Peter Cavanagh and Jordan Devine assisted and/or encouraged the gunman.

BBC

The New IRA admitted responsibility for McKee’s killing a few days after the murder and said she was "tragically killed while standing beside enemy forces," while the judge said the gunman has never been brought before the court.

Outside court, McKee’s sister Nichola Corner said the family would not stop, telling reporters: "This is not over."

Corner said the justice system had "completely failed" her family and Northern Ireland, and she pointed to a "culture of silence" in which people were afraid to speak out after the shooting in the Creggan area of Derry on 18 April 2019.

The Irish Times reported Corner’s account that "Over 150 people witnessed this event on the 18th of April 2019" and that "Not one of those 150 people came forward with evidence."

Channel 4 News

Reporters Without Borders urged continued pursuit of legal avenues, with Felicity Garvey saying: "The authorities must continue to pursue all legal avenues to establish accountability" after the acquittals.

The National Union of Journalists also said the verdict left accountability unresolved, with Séamus Dooley telling The Journal that "The person who pulled the trigger got off scot-free."

The acquittals came as the judge described McKee’s murder as "an act of senseless violence" and said the gunman has never been brought to the court, while the evidence against those accused of assisting or encouraging had fallen short of what was required for conviction.

“The Sunday Times' account reads like one of the best examples of investigative journalism”

Courrier international

DW reported that the prime ministers of Britain and Ireland and political leaders from Northern Ireland’s Protestant and Catholic communities attended McKee’s funeral, and it said her death helped revive Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government after it collapsed in 2017.

In the courtroom, Justice Patricia Smyth found that the shots were fired with "murderous intent" and that there was "obvious intention" to kill or seriously injure police, but she said McKee "was murdered" even though the intended target had been police.

The Journal said the union had grave concern that no one was charged with McKee’s murder, adding that the person who fired the fatal shot "got off scot-free" and that the case echoed the earlier outcome in the killing of journalist Martin O’Hagan.