February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Also in court was a man charged with attempting to murder Brendan Devine on the same night at the end of January. Devine was revealed in court as a witness who had given video-taped evidence.
Terence Davison, aged 49, was charged with McCartney’s murder while James McCormick, 36, was charged with attempted murder. Both were remanded in custody to re-appear by video-link at the same court on July 1st.
McCartney, from Belfast, was beaten and stabbed to death after leaving a bar near the city centre on January 30, this year. Devine was stabbed but has recovered and sat alongside the McCartney family during the 17-minute hearing.
When asked by defence lawyers, a detective chief inspector said that Davison had replied “Definitely not guilty” to the charge while McCormick had replied “Not guilty”. Both men stood impassively in the dock as the charges were read out.
The courtroom was tense as the police allowed only a limited number of McCartney’s relatives, alongside friends and family of the accused, into the public gallery. Six armed police officers separated the two groups.
At the start of the hearing, Davison, who has grey, receding hair and was wearing a blue polo shirt and jeans, was asked if he understood the charge. He replied: “Yes.” Detective chief inspector Ken Dunwoody said two witnesses had given statements identifying Davison but there was no forensic evidence linking him to the murder.
McCormick, who was wearing a blue checked shirt and jeans, only nodded when he was asked if he understood the charge against him. The court heard two witnesses had given statements identifying McCormick and there was also some forensic evidence against him.
The witnesses were referred to by Dunwoody as “Witnesses A, B, D and E” but, apparently inadvertently, one was named in court as “Mr. Devine” and is presumed to be Brendan Devine.
Although a prosecution lawyer asked the magistrate to order the press not to name him, the magistrate said he had not heard the name being spoken in court and therefore did not make any gagging order.
Dunwood accepted, under questioning from McCormick’s lawyer, that there were discrepancies in the witness evidence. The magistrate remanded both men in custody and told them they will re-appear by video link on July 1.
Lawyers for both McCormick and Davison appealed to the magistrate to ask the press to report the case responsibly. McCormick has already laid a case before the Press Complaints Commission.
Speaking outside court, McCartney`s sister, Paula, said: “We are very, very relieved that the first step of what is going to be a very long process is over. It has to be remembered that there was a lot more people involved in Robert’s murder and we will not be happy until all those people who were involved are brought to account.”
Asked how she felt when she saw the two men in the dock, she said, “Nauseated, that would be the word for it”. She said their campaign would continue until all those involved had been brought to justice.
Also in Belfast, a 29-year-old man was run down and killed by a police vehicle in the early hours of Saturday morning. Jim McMenamin was killed instantly by the vehicle which was attending an emergency call.
West Belfast Sinn F