Coat ‘links man to police murder’
DNA evidence links a former Sinn Fein councillor to the murder of police officer Stephen Carroll, the High Court has been told.
Constable Carroll was shot dead as he answered a call in Craigavon in March.
Prosecutors said forensic tests had revealed Brendan McConville was the regular wearer of a coat found in a car police believe the killers used.
Mr McConville, 38, of Glenholme Avenue, Lurgan, denies the charges. He applied for bail on Tuesday, but was refused.
A Crown lawyer said Mr McConville – who represented Sinn Fein on Craigavon Borough Council but was later expelled from the party – was interviewed 32 times by police.
He stayed silent throughout each questioning session apart from one where a statement was read out to deny firing the murder weapon or ever being a member of a proscribed organisation, the court heard.
Mr McConville also stated he was a friend of 18-year-old co-accused John Paul Wootton, of Collingdale, Lurgan, and was regularly in his car.
The prosecution lawyer confirmed the prosecution case that this car was used in the murder.
Cartridge discharge residue was found in the car after its seizure, along with other items including a brown coat, he said.
“That coat, the prosecution say, can be connected to this applicant by DNA evidence indicating he is the habitual wearer of the coat,” the lawyer claimed.
Particles
According to the barrister an examination of the jacket also discovered particles consistent with it being associated with the firing of the weapon.
However, a defence counsel said there was no real evidence to connect McConville to the murder.
He said the case against his client hinged on the jacket found in the car boot, and argued that the residue discovered on it may not even have come from cartridge discharge.
The lawyer also drew a distinction between substance on the jacket and on the ammunition used.
He further contended that cartridge discharge residue can be easily transferred, adding: “It’s entirely possible in our submission that there has been some element of cross contamination at play here.”
Refusing his bail application, Mr Justice McCloskey said the victim had been lured into a trap and executed in an “appalling and abhorrent murder” by the self-styled Continuity IRA.
The judge added: “I’m quite clear in the present care that the appropriate bail conditions which would provide the safeguards that the public at large and individual members of the public require are not available.”
