Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
AFTER 12YRS SUSPECT ADMITS PAUL’S MURDER
Plea as trial begins for loyalist attack at BBQ
IN the first case of its kind, a man was sentenced to life yesterday for the murder of his victim who died nine years after a sectarian attack left him in a coma.
Derry man Piper John Mcclements, 28, was jailed for the loyalist assault on Catholic civil servant Paul Mccauley, who was beaten as he attended a barbecue in 2006.
The father of one remained in a vegetative state until he passed away while in care on June 6, 2015.
Mcclements, from the Fountain Estate, was originally jailed for grievous bodily harm with intent in 2009 under his former name of Daryl Proctor.
Yesterday he hung his head as he pleaded guilty to the murder.
Defence QC Martin
O’rourke had asked for the charge to be put to
Mcclements again, just as his trial before Londonderry Crown
Court, sitting in Belfast, was due to begin.
Following the guilty plea,
Mr Justice Colton told Mcclements that under law, he must impose a sentence of life imprisonment.
However, a tariff hearing will be held to determine how long he will spend in prison before being considered eligible for release.
Mr O’rourke applied for pre-sentence reports and told the court the defence may be obtaining medical reports on his client.
In the meantime, the trial of a second Derry man, 31-year-old Matthew Brian Gillen of Bond Street, was adjourned at the request of the prosecution, until today.
Mr Mccauley, who was 29 at the time, suffered horrific head injuries, including a brain haemorrhage and a fractured skull, after being savagely beaten in the Waterside area of the city on July 16, 2006. He never regained consciousness.
He also had two heart attacks on the way to Altnagelvin Hospital. Mr Mccauley was being cared for at a specialist nursing unit, where he required round-the-clock provision, until his death.
At the time of his passing, SDLP MLA for Foyle Mark H Durkan paid tribute to his family and the heartache they had suffered. He said: “They have endured a torrid nine years watching their son suffer in a manner few of us can imagine.
“Their pain has been compounded by the failure to see justice done.”
In 2014, PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton apologised to the Mccauley family for not bringing more people to justice for the attack.