THE VERDICT:THE THREE men charged in connection with the murder of Robert McCartney outside Magennis's Bar in central Belfast over three years ago were yesterday acquitted of all offences including the most serious charge of murder against 51-year-old Terence Davison.
Mr Justice Gillen ruled that such were the "frailties" and "inconsistencies" in the case against Mr Davison, who was also charged with affray, and against James McCormick (39) and Joseph Fitzpatrick (49), also charged with affray, that all three should walk free from Belfast Crown Court.
Mr Fitzpatrick was also acquitted on an additional charge of assaulting Ed Gowdy, one of the three main witnesses in the case, who was with McCartney in the bar on January 31st, 2005, the night he was killed.
In his 74-page judgment, Mr Justice Gillen said the fatal assault arose from a quarrel in the bar after a number of women interpreted a gesture made by McCartney as insulting to them. McCartney said they had misinterpreted remarks directed at a television showing football highlights.
This incident triggered a brawl in which Brendan Devine, a friend of McCartney's, was stabbed in the neck. There were further attacks on McCartney in Market Street and nearby Cromac Square.
The judge found difficulties in the evidence of the three key witnesses, Witness C - a woman motorist who observed the attack on McCartney while driving at Cromac Square - and of Mr Devine and Mr Gowdy.
He described Witness C as a "transparently honest and brave witness" who had picked out Mr Davison as the killer in an identity parade. Nonetheless there were "frailties" in relation to her identification of Mr Davison, whether he had actually stabbed McCartney, and whether he had been wielding a knife or some similar object.
He focused on her description of Mr Davison, particularly of the length of his hair, which was at odds with CCTV footage of him on the night of the murder.
While not rejecting her identification he said it would have been necessary to have found independent supporting evidence.
Mr Devine and Mr Gowdy, who both were in contact with the IRA before giving evidence, might have provided that supporting evidence had their testimony "not been so fundamentally flawed". The judge said he had to be cautious about Mr Devine's evidence considering the large amount of alcohol he had consumed on the day, the fact that he had spoken to the IRA who might have influenced his account of events, and "inconsistencies" in his version of what happened.
Of Mr Gowdy's evidence the judge said "this witnesses's evidence is so seared with inconsistency, contradiction and implausibility in crucial areas that I could not place sufficient reliance on him to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt".
The judge, who sat without a jury, said: "I recognise that the family of Mr McCartney and others who held him dear will be frustrated and disappointed that whoever it was who cut this young man down in the prime of his life has or have not been brought to justice. However the memory of Mr McCartney and the rule of law itself would be ill-served by this court failing to observe the high standards of criminal justice and the burden of proof which prevails in courts in Northern Ireland."
He said that the investigation would continue and if new evidence emerged "no one, including for that matter even the accused in this trial, will be beyond the reach of potential prosecution."
None of the defendants, including Mr Davison who was driven away in a waiting BMW, would comment. The defendants did not give evidence during the case.
