Convicted killer continues to deny murder

A CRAIGAVON man who attacked another man in his own flat and left him to die continues to deny murder, a court has heard.

Mark Ward was convicted by a jury of murdering Marcell ‘Junior’ Seeley, who was found dead by his sister in the living room of his flat in the Taghnevan estate in Lurgan two years ago.

Despite the conviction, Belfast Crown Court was told yesterday by Ward’s barrister that the 25 year-old defendant “continues to deny it”.

Ward, from Drumellan Gardens in Moyraverty, was handed a life sentence in June after he was convicted of murdering Mr Seeley (34). Yesterday, he was due to be told how long he will have to spend behind bars before he is eligible to apply for parole.

However, after being asked to consider further submissions from both the Crown and defence, Mr Justice Treacy said he would delay sentencing until next week.

The judge was told by Crown prosecutor David McDowell QC that Mr Seeley died of blunt force trauma to the head after he was attacked in his Dingwell Park flat

Victim: Marcell Seeley

some time on Sunday, October 11, 2015. His remains were discovered two days later by his sister.

Branding the attack against Mr Seeley as “severe”, Mr McDowell said Ward did not assist or get help for the injured man, but left him in his flat.

Pointing out that Mr Seeley and Ward knew each other and had drunk together prior to the fatal beating, Mr McDowell described the victim as “vulnerable” due to his level of intoxication.

The prosecutor also said blood splatters in Mr Seeley’s living room indicated the attack against him continued even when the injured man started “bleeding significantly”.

This, Mr McDowell said, was consistent with Ward asking Mr Seeley’s neighbour and friend on the morning of the murder “if there is blood coming from someone’s ear, does that make him dead?”

Charles McCreanor QC, representing Ward, spoke of his client’s low IQ and told the court Ward was assessed as having a “borderline mental handicap”.

The defence barrister also spoke of Ward’s “significant cognitive limitations” which he said could be attributed to a brain injury his client sustained in 2009 after a motorbike was driven over his head.

Ward himself has never given an account of what happened.