Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PAT FEARED ‘SET-UP’
Couple appear in court over dad-of-four’s ‘murder’
A FATHER of four feared he was being set up prior to entering a flat where police believe he was killed, a court heard yesterday.
Details of the events leading up to William “Pat” Mccormick’s death were outlined to a district judge as an engaged couple faced charges in connection with the killing.
The dead man’s relatives watched from the public gallery as David Gill, 26, was remanded in custody charged with murder.
Newtownards Magistrates Court heard he replied, “Not guilty” when the charge was put to him by police. Gill, from Ballyglighorn Road in Comber, Co Down, made no application for bail.
His co-accused Lesley-ann Dodds is accused of perverting the course of justice and aiding and abetting the 55-year-old’s murder.
The court heard the police accept she was not “physically” involved in the alleged murder or disposal of the body.
A bail application on behalf of the 21-year-old, from Mountcollyer Avenue in North Belfast, who denies involvement in the alleged murder, was rejected by Judge Rosalie Prytherch.
The court heard the two accused, who both told the judge they understood the charges against them, have been subject to a threat since Mr Mccormick’s disappearance. Details about the case emerged during questioning by Dodds’ lawyer during her failed bail application.
A detective inspector told the court Gill was inside the apartment in Comber when Mr Mccormick arrived on the evening of May 30.
She said that, while CCTV showed the murder-accused leaving two-anda-half hours later, Mr Mccormick was never seen alive again.
After a lengthy police search, his body was found by specialist divers in a lake at a disused quarry at nearby Ballygowan on Tuesday following an anonymous tip-off. The detective told the judge there had been a series of calls and texts between Mr Mccormick and the two accused in the period before he arrived at the flat.
She said Gill had been using Dodds’ phone at the time.
The officer said Mr Mccormick was fearful about the arranged meeting inside the property.
She added: “He had been anxious about attending that address and feared he was being set up.”
The detective objected to bail for
NEWTOWNARDS COURT YESTERDAY
Dodds on the grounds she might interfere with witnesses or flee the jurisdiction. She said the day after the murder Dodds was searching for “cheap holidays” on the internet.
The officer said Dodds had also breached her bail conditions when she was released following her initial detention in June.
She also highlighted the couple were subject to a threat on June 5.
Judge Prytherch said she had taken all the objections raised by police into account in deciding to decline bail.
Both she and Gill were remanded in custody to appear before the same court, via video-link, on August 2.