Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
KILLED IN A HAIL OF 15 BULLETS..
Murder trial is told husband and wife deny any role in gun attack
A HAIL of 15 shots were fired at a man shot dead in broad daylight, a court heard yesterday.
The details emerged as a man, his wife and brother went on trial at Belfast Crown Court on charges arising from the murder of 31-year-old Christopher Mackin.
The victim, also known as “Crickey”, was shot at least seven times outside his College Square North home close to Belfast city centre on March 1, 2012.
Charles Stephen Valliday, 45, his wife Julie Ann, 40, both of Islay Street, Antrim, deny murder.
His 51-year-old brother, James John Valliday from Springfield Meadows, Belfast, pleaded not guilty to assisting offenders.
The couple also deny possessing a Smith and Wesson revolver, ammunition and a £70,000 haul of cocaine and heroin later found hidden in an Audi A4, said to belong to Mrs Valliday.
It’s alleged her husband’s DNA was later found on the revolver and on the bags containing the Class A drugs.
Prosecutor Terence Mooney told Mr Justice Treacy and the jury the Crown says that Julie Ann Valliday drove her husband in a Renault Clio to the scene.
He said: “The Crown case is Julie Ann Valliday and Charles Valliday murdered Christopher Mackin. There can be no doubt but that the intention of the gunman was to kill Mackin.”
Mr Mooney added the Renault was later abandoned in the Oldpark area of North Belfast. It’s claimed sometime before midnight it was doused with petrol, which was allegedly bought by James Valliday, and set on fire in an effort to destroy evidence.
The weapon used in the attack, possibly a self-loading pistol, has never been recovered.
Prosecutors claim Julie Ann Valliday, wearing a distinctive black and white housecoat throughout, later disposed of that gun.
A postmortem revealed Mr Mackin was hit by at least seven bullets causing wounds to the abdomen and his left thigh.
One round caused “catastrophic injuries to vital organs, including his aorta, right kidney and liver”, and was probably the fatal wound which resulted in his rapid death.
Mr Mooney said witnesses left with “snap shots” of what had taken place given the suddenness of the attack, described seeing Mr Mackin in a distinctive white T-shirt, looking anxious, or panicky, to even “stressed out”. As he talked on his mobile phone, they heard “the sound of gunfire” which one witness described as “sharp, loud cracking sounds”.
However, the prosecution lawyer claimed the dead man left even more by way of evidence, his mobile phone, “a most important piece of evidence in his case .... evidence which speaks almost from his grave”, as it contained evidence of “mobile contact” between Mr Mackin and Julie Ann Valliday “during the day and up to the time of the murder”.
Mr Mooney further claimed she had lied in text messages to the victim saying she was alone and wanting to buy drugs, “tabs” from him as it was “clear from the tenor of those texts” that Mr Mackin, who had “a gut feeling” was “increasingly anxious” about any meeting with her husband.
The lawyer further alleged that she tried to assure Mr Mackin that her husband “was out of the picture”, so that he would keep their appointment.
In the wake of the shooting police launched a major investigation, part of which involved gathering CCTV images
BELFAST CROWN COURT
from a number of locations around Belfast, allegedly enabling them to show the journeys of “certain vehicles associated with the Vallidays”.
The CCTV provided, what the prosecution claimed was, “a vivid picture” both of the personalities involved in the case, and of vehicles and their movements.
This included the journey taken by the Renault Clio from the Ormeau area of South Belfast, to the scene of the shooting and then on to the Oldpark area where it was abandoned and torched.
In his opening statements, Mr Mooney said the evidence would be “clear, cogent and persuasive to the extent” the jury would be satisfied of the guilt of the accused, whom he claimed later “lied” to police following their arrests.
However, the lawyer said “the prosecution case depends to a very large extent on circumstantial evidence rather than direct evidence”.
But he told the jury of seven women and five men, “do not think it is of any less strength than direct evidence”.
Mr Mooney said he was giving them “the skelton on which you can build the muscle and skin” ... and that once presented, the evidence would point only in one direction, and with an “irresistible conclusion” as to the guilt of the accused.
The trial continues.