THREE MEMBERS of the same family were yesterday jailed for life after they were found guilty of murdering a father of four outside his home in Derry two years ago.
James Meehan, his wife Brenda Meehan and her son Seán Devenney were convicted of murdering Jim McFadden at Moyola Drive in the Shantallow area of Derry after they had all attended the same wedding reception at Redcastle in Co Donegal on May 5th, 2007.
James Meehan, who is originally from Kells in Co Meath, was jailed for life in his absence after he had absconded on Tuesday. He was found guilty of the murder as a primary party and his wife and stepson were both found guilty of murder as secondary parties following a 10-week long trial at Derry Crown Court. A bench warrant for his immediate arrest was issued by Mr Justice McCloskey following yesterday’s sentencings.
All three defendants, from Dundrean Park in the Galliagh area of Derry, will receive their minimum jail terms after a tariff hearing on September 17th. Judge McCloskey said whatever sentences they received then would be served in full and he added that they would only be released from prison following determinations by the Life Sentence Commissioners. The judge also ordered the preparation of pre-sentence and victim impact reports for that date.
The three were convicted of murdering Jim McFadden (42), who died when he sustained a ruptured heart during an assault in the early hours of May 5th, 2007. Brenda Meehan, a mother of five, was acquitted of assaulting Jason Graham, the boyfriend of Mr McFadden’s daughter, Ashling, in the same incident but found guilty of assaulting Ashling.
About 30 relatives and friends of the murder victim’s wife Ita, embraced her in court when it was announced that the jurors had reached their verdicts following the trial.
Members of the McFadden family cheered, clapped and then cried when the jury forewoman announced the unanimous verdicts.
Judge McCloskey said there was a “very strong human and emotional element involved in this trial” and he excused the jurors from further jury service for life.
Speaking outside the courthouse after the murder verdicts were announced, Mrs McFadden said she and her family now hoped that “justice will be done” when sentencing takes place in September.
“We would like to thank the judge who presided over the trial and the jury for coming to the right decision following the brutal murder of my darling husband, daddy, son and brother,” she said.
Mrs McFadden said she and her family wanted to thank the PSNI, the paramedics who tended to her dying husband, the prosecution team, the victim support officers and the many witnesses who came forward.
