Queen v Seamus Martin Kearney
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | His Honour Judge McFarland |
| Judgment Date | 28 November 2013 |
| Neutral Citation | [2013] NICC 33 |
| Date | 28 November 2013 |
| Court | Crown Court (Northern Ireland) |
1
Neutral Citation No. [2013] NICC 33
Ref:
2013NICC33
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
Delivered:
28/11/2013
(subject to editorial corrections)*
BILL 13/039673
BELFAST CROWN COURT
THE QUEEN
-V-
SEAMUS MARTIN KEARNEY
His Honour Judge McFarland
Recorder of Belfast
1. The defendant was returned for trial on Bill No 13/039673 on the 6th June
2013. He faced two counts, first a count of murdering John Proctor on the
14th September 1981 and secondly possession on that day of an Armalite
AR15 rifle and ammunition with intent to endanger life. He pleaded not
guilty to both counts. The Director of Public Prosecutions has certified
the case for trial without a jury under the provisions of the Justice and
Security (NI) Act 2007. The trial commenced on the 11th November 2013
with Mr Murphy QC and Mr Russell appearing for the prosecution and
Mr. Harvey QC and Mr Duffy for the defendant.
Evidence
2. John Proctor (or Johnny to his family) had been married to Kathleen
Proctor in September 1977, and on the 9th September 1981 she was
admitted to the Maternity Wing of the Mid-Ulster Hospital in
2
Magherafelt, giving birth to a boy about 10.30 am. John Proctor had
visited his wife in hospital on three occasions that day, and he continued
to visit her and his son on the subsequent evenings of the 10th, 11th, 12th,
and 13th September 1981. On the 14th September 1981 he again visited his
wife and son in the hospital. He drove his Chrysler Sunbeam DIW 9966
(this vehicle was sometimes referred to as a “Talbot Sunbeam” in the
evidence), arrived about 6.45pm and parked it in the car park in the
hospital grounds adjacent to what was Townparks Special Care School
and is now the Magherafelt Adult Centre.
3. The car park is rectangular in shape and runs in a roughly north-
east/south west direction. The entrance and exit is in the north-west
corner and the road then runs between hospital buildings before joining
Hospital Road. On exiting the hospital grounds a left turn leads to
Magherafelt town centre, and a right turn leads to the B42 Magherafelt –
Tobermore Road. Parking bays are painted out in the car park, around
the edge and with a central section holding 28 parking bays in two rows of
14. For ease of reference I will allocate these bays numbers (although
there is no such numbering at the location). Starting from the west, the
bays on the northern section will be numbered 1 – 14, and on the southern
section they will be numbered 15 – 28. Of particular significance are bay 6
where John Proctor parked his car, bay 7 where the police later found
blood and a set of keys, bays 27, 12 and 13 where the police later found
tyre marks, and bays 25 and 26 where the police later found shell casings.
Two cigarette butts were also recovered. The exact location of the
cigarette butts is uncertain as two butts were recovered from three
possible locations, but the three locations were in bays 26 and 27.
4. John Proctor stayed with his wife and child until about 8.50 pm and he
then departed to return to his car. After saying goodnight within the
ward, Kathleen Proctor then proceeded within the building to a window
closest to the car park to exchange a final farewell through the window.
To continue reading
Request your trial
1 cases
-
R v Wootton and Anor
...v Shivers where a tariff of 25 years was imposed for the murder of two soldiers and the attempted murder of several more. In R v Kearney [2013] NICC 33 a tariff of 20 years was imposed for the murder of a 25-year-old police constable in the car park of a hospital. [15] The Director provided......