Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Murder cousins jailed for 40 years
Pair sentenced for father-of-two’s ‘chilling’ gangland-style execution
TWO cousins who murdered Stephen Carson in a “coldblooded” gangland-style were jailed for 20 years each yesterday.
Michael “Spud” Smith and David “Dee Dee” Smith shook hands in the dock of Belfast Crown Court yesterday after they were sentenced by Judge Geoffrey Miller.
A jury last month convicted the pair of murdering the father of two, who died after he was shot in the head in the downstairs bathroom of his South Belfast home on February 25, 2016.
The victim’s fiancee Naomi Smyth and their nine-year old son were also in the house at Walmer Street in the Ormeau Road area on the evening of the brutal attack.
It emerged that Mr Carson’s son, who is now 11, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
During the incident, the child was threatened at gunpoint and peppersprayed.
Judge Miller described Mr Carson’s murder as “an execution with chilling and clinical efficiency”.
He said: “I am in no doubt it has characteristics akin to a gangland execution.”
It was the Crown’s case Michael Smith, 40, fired once from a sawn-off shotgun through a bathroom door, killing Mr Carson, while 35-year-old David Smith stayed in the living room where he “subdued” the victim’s son and fiancee.
VENDETTA
Judge Miller added: “This was a cold-blooded, pre-planned murder, set in the context of a long-running vendetta against the deceased and his family.”
He added the pair, both with addresses in Monagh Drive, travelled from West Belfast to the Ormeau Road area “with one thought and intention in mind – namely to kill Mr Carson”.
The court heard Michael Smith – who was also found guilty of possessing a sawn-off shotgun with intent to commit murder – had 168 previous convictions, compared to David Smith’s 28.
Also jailed yesterday for his role in the aftermath of the murder was a third cousin – Francis Smith – who was handed a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for four offences, the second half of which will be served on licence after his release.
Despite his denials, the 42-year old, from Glenmurray Court in West Belfast, was sentenced for charges including assisting offenders and for allowing the murder weapon and ammunition to be stored in his flat.
During the trial it was the Crown’s case the motive for Mr Carson’s murder dated back to a violent incident in Turf
Lodge in 2010, when Michael
Smith sustained a significant wound to his arm. Involved in this altercation were Mr Carson, Kieran Mcmanus and a third man. Mr Mcmanus, 26, was shot dead outside a Domino’s Pizza in West Belfast in March 2013. The trial was also told in the days prior to being murdered Mr Carson had expressed concerns after he saw David Smith in the Ormeau area. The jury heard harrowing evidence from Mr Carson’s fiancee, son and mother.
They also listened to a 999 call the victim made to the PSNI.
Hiding in the downstairs bathroom, Mr Carson could be heard begging the police to send officers to his home before he was shot through the door.
Prior to Judge Miller passing sentence, Crown barrister Neil Connor said three men “forced their way” into Mr Carson’s home and murdered him in the presence of his partner and son while he was on the phone “summoning help from the police”.
Michael Smith’s barrister Frank O’donoghue said his client did not engage with probation ahead of his sentencing as he is appealing his conviction.
After being jailed, Michael Smith and David Smith shook hands. They then turned to the public gallery, waved and gave the thumbsup, to which someone shouted “upwards and onwards”.
Both men will have to serve a minimum of 20 years before they are considered eligible for release by the Parole Commission.