Two convicted killers involved in the brutal and calculated assassination of Malcolm McKeown were today (Monday, October 6) told they will spend at least 50 years in jail between them, before they can even be considered the release.
After Mr Justice Fowler ordered killers Jake O’Brien and Andrew Martin to be taken to the cells at Antrim Crown Court, grieving relatives of their victim held their fists aloft and waved.
The two men meanwhile, waved at their own supporters as several uniformed officers stood in between the two groups.
Describing the killing as a well-planned and executed assassination, “reminiscent of a terrorist ambush,” Mr Justice Fowler told 31-year-old O’Brien he will serve at least 26 years of his life sentence for the murder.
Malcolm McKeown. Photo provided by PSNIplaceholder image
Malcolm McKeown. Photo provided by PSNI
Turning to Martin, the judge said that to reflect his guilty plea to aiding and abetting murder, while it came late in the day, he was imposing a 24-year minimum tariff on the murder charge.
Concluding that both men are dangerous offenders and pose a significant risk of causing serious harm by the commission of further offences, Mr Justice Fowler also imposed indeterminate sentences, with a minimum tariff of ten years, on a further charge of possessing firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
Highlighting that 54-year-old McKeown was hit at least six times, once in the head and five times to the torso, after their pair had used a pistol and a revolver to fire 16 shots, the judge said there had been “an unequivocal intention to kill.”
Twelve days after he had been freed from prison, McKeown was sitting in the driver’s seat of his BMW 5-series parked at the side of a filling station in Waringstown on August 18, 2019 when two boiler-suit wearing gun men approached the vehicle, and opened fire with two firearms.
Detective Inspector Jennifer Rea speaking to the media at PSNI Headquarters in east Belfast following the sentencing. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEyeplaceholder image
Detective Inspector Jennifer Rea speaking to the media at PSNI Headquarters in east Belfast following the sentencing. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye
The two assassins ran along a nearby path and were seen to get into a VW Passat, parked there earlier in the day to be used as a getaway car.
Boiler Suit
DNA attributable to O’Brien, of the Rectory Road in Lurgan,was found on a black disposable latex glove and a boiler suit discovered near the Passat.
He was further identified as one of two men captured on CCTV running into a cul-de-sac close to where the Passat was burned.
Martin was identified as the second man in the footage and their trial heard how McKeown was involved in a feud with a criminal organisation known as ‘The Firm.’
“He had previously been shot and seriously wounded and had received warnings from the police that he was under threats from organised criminals in the locality,” Mr Justice Fowler told the court.
Before the non-jury trial began Martin, from Bridge Street in Banbridge, had entered a guilty plea to aiding and abetting the murder but that was not accepted by the Crown.
Describing the case against the pair as an “overwhelming circumstantial case,” the judge said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of their guilt on the two charges of murder and possessing guns and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
Mr Justice Fowler said while he could see no mitigation in the case, there were multiple aggravating factors including the use of weapons, the “clear and unequivocal intention to kill” and the fact the killing was premeditated and pre-planned.
In addition, it was also a factor that the two gunmen had fired multiple shots at their target who was parked close to a busy garage “in broad daylight” and when he was in a position that “he was unable to react or to seek cover.”
The pair had also attempted to conceal and destroy evidence in the aftermath of the killing, said the judge.
An additional aggravating factor was the impact the killing has had on McKeown’s family and Mr Justice Fowler said he had read Victim Impact Statements from the victims sisters and brother who “speak of the deep sense of loss” which has arisen from the murder.
Speaking after the tariff hearing, police said “shocking and senseless violence" has no place in society.
Detective Inspector Jennifer Rea said: “Malcolm McKeown was 54 years old when his life was cruelly taken. He had gone into a shop at a garage in the Main Street area of Waringstown on the evening of 19 August in 2019, and returned to his car some minutes later.
“It was here, in his car, that he was shot at close range. Mr McKeown was shot at least six times in a calculated and cold-blooded execution, which took place in broad daylight.
“His body was found, in his parked car, by two young teenagers who, I’ve no doubt, will have been left scarred by their terrible discovery that evening.”
Detective Inspector Rea continued: “This brutal and targeted attack left an entire community shaken and a family bereft. Mr McKeown was a much-loved father of three, who have each since endured further sorrow by the passing of their mother. He was a grandfather, a brother and an uncle.”
The detective added: “Those responsible had one intention – to kill. And they showed no thought for anyone, including children, in the area at that time. Surely, such acts of shocking and senseless violence have no place whatsoever in our society.
“This was a murder, involving the use of firearms, which was pre-planned and organised. I want to be clear that police continue, and will continue, to work tirelessly to investigate and bring those involved in such organised criminality to justice.
“Thanks to our dedicated team, and working in partnership with our colleagues in the Public Prosecution Service, the two defendants have been held accountable for their actions. I’m mindful, however, that Malcolm’s family are left with an ongoing sadness, and will be trying to cope with their loss for the months and years ahead. My thoughts remain with them.”
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