Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Man charged with scouting scene of Horner’s killing
Bail denied over car park shooting
A MAN accused of murder outside a supermarket “directed” the gunman to his target, police said.
Colin Horner, 35, was stalked for up to 11 days before he was killed while putting his three-year-old son into his vehicle in Bangor, Co Down, last May, a court was told yesterday.
Officers said Joseph Blair, 34, was allegedly a passenger in a “surveillance” car that sat for hours outside the victim’s home on the day of his death and followed him as he visited local shops.
The accused is suspected of calling in the shooter as Mr Horner was returning to his car at Sainsbury’s.
A detective said a lone assailant fired five shots but has never been caught.
It is alleged Blair made a six-minute call to the gunman beforehand and mobile phone analysis and DNA evidence from the car was used to link him to the crime.
The detective inspector told Newtownards Magistrates Court: “The role this individual played, we believe, was that as the passenger he would have directed the gunman to the scene.”
There was an increased security presence as the accused, from Shackleton Walk in Newtownards, was led into the dock flanked by prison officers. Blair is accused of murdering the dad and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
On the day of the attack, Mr Horner had travelled from his home to a nearby convenience store on the Rathgael Road.
The detective added: “Police have evidence to show the black Focus was directly behind the victim.
“Mr Blair makes a six-minute phone call, police would say to the gunman to direct them that the IP [injured person or party] is on the move.”
Officers allege the Ford Focus carrying the accused was just 30ft away when the shooting was later carried out. It left the car park two minutes after the attack to pick up the gunman some miles away. The attack vehicle had been torched.
Blair’s barrister said the mobile was central to the prosecution case but added it had been used by someone else in the period before the killing.
Two men aged 28 and 29 have already been charged with the murder.
District Judge Austin Kennedy heard police can prove the movements of the mobile through various cell site locations and Blair’s DNA was retrieved from a seat belt buckle of the Focus.
The accused was refused bail and remanded in custody until next month.