Four from one family charged over murder
FOUR members of the same family and another man have now been charged in connection with the murder of 33-year-old Steven Peck in Ballymoney.
Appearing via video-link in Ballymena Magistrates Court yesterday, Easther Mccook (46) was charged with assisting offenders, while her daughter Lisa Gemmell (29) was charged with perverting the course of justice.
Mr Peck was the victim of a serious assault near the Joey Dunlop Leisure Centre in Ballymoney on January 3, allegedly by David Austin (54) and brothers Stephen and Brian Mccook (aged 28 and 24).
Left at the scene, he was discovered by a dog walker and rushed to hospital but died from his injuries a week later.
All three men are currently charged with attempted murder, while Brian Mccook is also charged with threatening to kill Mrs Austin and a man who lived at the Austin home at Cherry Gardens in Ballymoney.
During Mr Peck’s assault, it’s alleged that Ms Mccook, from Urbal Road in Dervock, knew that it had occurred before providing a false alibi for her sons and interfering with witnesses.
Her daughter is also alleged to have destroyed phone evidence in connection to the murder.
Police have said they believe Mr Peck was having a sexual relationship with Mrs Austin, and had thought he was going to meet her at the time of the attack.
Detectives say they believe the affair was Mr Austin’s motive for carrying out the assault along with his friends, the Mccooks.
Speaking in court yesterday, a detective constable said that during the attack Ms Mccook was with Mrs Austin and had her phone, which stopped her warning Mr Peck or contacting the police. He also said it was the police case that she had attempted to provide a false alibi for her two sons.
He added that Ms Gemmell went to the Austins’ house some time after the attack and allegedly deleted data and contact details from Mrs Austin’s phone.
The court was then told that the victim’s phone had yet to be recovered despite extensive searches.
Lodging bail applications, defence lawyers said that both women had previous criminal records but argued that they were irrelevant to the current charges.
They added that both could not interfere with the police investigation as they required an appropriate adult to be present during interviews, and said the necessary bail conditions could be put in place.
District Judge Peter King refused bail, commenting it posed a risk to the investigation as Mr Peck’s mobile phone had still not been recovered.
“I’m not satisfied that there are conditions I could impose that would guarantee the integrity of the investigation,” he said.
Both women have been remanded into custody until February 1 along with the three alleged attackers.