Three men cleared of journalist Lyra McKee’s murder over 2019 New IRA shooting
Three men have been found not guilty of the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry in 2019.
Judge Mrs Justice Smyth has delivered her judgment in the long-running non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court.
Paul McIntyre, 58, of Kells Walk in Derry, Peter Cavanagh, 38, of Mary Street, and Jordan Gareth Devine, 25, of Bishop Street, faced a joint enterprise murder charge.
Lyra, 29, died after being hit by a bullet as she stood close to police vehicles while observing disturbances in the Creggan area of Derry on April 18 2019.
Several petrol bombs had been directed at police and a car was set on fire during chaotic scenes which culminated in four shots being fired towards officers.
The New IRA claimed responsibility for her death.
Lyra died during what the prosecution termed a “culmination of orchestrated violence” on a suburban street in Derry.
She had been among a number of people watching the disorder on Fanad Drive on the evening of April 18 in 2019 that followed petrol bombs being thrown at a passing police car in the area of the Creggan shops on April 16.
The rioting is said to have been a response by dissident republicans to police activity in which homes were searched.
The trial of the three men found not guilty of Lyra’s murder by intentionally encouraging or assisting the gunman on a joint enterprise basis, heard that the shots were fired by a masked man standing at the corner of Fanad Drive and the southern part of Central Drive.
Following the fourth shot, screaming began.
As the gunman was seen retreating down Central Drive, Lyra was rushed to hospital in a police Landrover, but was confirmed dead just after she arrived.
Her killing prompted an outpouring of condemnation and grief which quickly spread beyond Northern Ireland and went around the world.
Former Irish president Michael D Higgins, then prime minister Theresa May and former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar were among the mourners who attended her funeral.
Originally from Belfast, Lyra had only recently moved to Derry before she was killed, to live with her partner Sara Canning.
She had tweeted about the “absolute madness” in Derry in the hours before she was shot dead.
Lyra rose to prominence in 2014 after a blog post called “Letter to my 14-year-old self” in which she spoke about the struggle of growing up gay in Belfast.
In subsequent years, her letter was turned into a short film, she became a published author and she had signed a two-book deal with Faber & Faber, as well as appearing in domestic and international publications.
Named as one of the “30 under 30 in media” by Forbes Magazine in 2016, Lyra was cited for her passion of “digging into topics that others don’t care about”.
She was killed just weeks before her book, Angels With Blue Faces, was due to be published.
The non-fiction book was about the Troubles-era cold case murder of South Belfast MP Rev Robert Bradford.
She had also been an editor for California-based news site Mediagazer, a trade publication covering the media industry.
The National Union of Journalists described Ms McKee as one of the most promising journalists in Northern Ireland.
She was also regarded as a hero to many in the LGBT community in Northern Ireland.
Paying tribute at Ms McKee’s funeral, her sister Nichola Corner said: “We have the power to create the kind of society that Lyra envisioned.
“One where labels are meaningless. One where every single person is valued.
“One where every single child gets the chance to grow up and to make their dreams come true.”
She added: “In the words of Lyra herself, we must change our own world one piece at a time, now let’s get to work.”
Politics Editor
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