Summary of Judgment - Court sentences for murder of Paul Smyth
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Neutral Citation | Summary of Judgment - Court sentences for murder of Paul Smyth |
| Court | Court of Judicature (NI) |
| Date | 25 April 2022 |
Judicial Communications Office
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25 April 2022
COURT SENTENCES FOR MURDER OF PAUL SMYTH
Summary of Judgment
Mr Justice Colton sitting Craigavon Crown Court
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imposed a minimum tariff of 18 years on James
McVeigh for the murder of Paul Smyth in 2019. That is the minimum term he must serve before he
can be considered for release on licence. If released he will remain liable to recall to prison for the
rest of his life. The court also sentenced three other men for offences relating to the murder and a
gun attack on a house in Lisburn.
Background
Paul Smyth (“the deceased”) was found dead in his home in Lisburn on 21 June 2019. The cause of
death was significant blood loss from a shotgun wound to the chest fired at no more than a few feet
away. The court heard that the deceased lived alone and that it appeared that he sold controlled
drugs from his home on a small scale. Ryan Megarry had bought drugs from the deceased at his
home on 15 June 2019 and at some stage between then and the afternoon of 18 June, suggested to
James McVeigh that money and drugs could be obtained there. Whilst it was accepted that Megarry
did not contemplate that McVeigh would kill or physically harm the deceased, the identification of
his home as potential source of drugs and money ultimately led to his death.
In the early hours of 19 June 2019, McVeigh was seen on CCTV arriving at Ferndale House, a block
of flats in Lisburn where James Stewart lived. Interrogation of McVeigh’s mobile phone revealed
that it was operating in the vicinity of the deceased’s flat between 23:48 and 23:55 on 18 June and it
was turned off between 23:55 on 18 June and 00:37 on 19 June. At 00:37 on 19 June, CCTV shows
McVeigh, Stewart and James Holmes leaving Ferndale House. They are next sighted in the
Rushmere Shopping Centre, Craigavon buying items from the JD Sports Shop with bundles of cash.
The prosecution contended that McVeigh entered the home of the deceased during the early hours of
19 June 2019 and shot him, taking a quantity of cash before fleeing the scene. It was claimed this was
the money he was seen spending later that day.
In a separate incident on 23 June 2019, Gareth Reid was in bed in his house in Lisburn when he was
woken by a masked man who came to the door asking the whereabouts of a Wayne Kirkwood who
was previously associated with that property. A second male then emerged from the side of the
house and discharged a shotgun, shattering the window. Neither Gareth Reid nor his wife were
injured. It was the prosecution case that the first male was James Holmes. CCTV evidence showed
Holmes and Stewart in the company of two other males carrying a red holdall which contained the
firearm used in the attack on the Reids. At 02:54 on 23 June 2019 three of the males are observed
walking in the direction of the Reids’ house. At 23:47 on 23 June, further footage shows Holmes and
Stewart leaving Ferndale House with Holmes carrying the red holdall and McVeigh carrying the
barrel of the shotgun. They were later observed without the holdall and firearm. A short time later
they were stopped by the police and two shotgun cartridges were found in McVeigh’s jacket pocket.
On 1 August 2019 a member of the public found the holdall and firearm in undergrowth adjacent to
the car park where Holmes and McVeigh had been seen on CCTV. Forensic tests strongly supported
the proposition that the gun was used in the attack on the deceased and the Reid’s house.
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The court was sitting at Laganside Courts, Belfast
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