Three men found guilty of Ian Ogle murder

Three men have been found guilty of the murder of Ian Ogle in January 2019.

The father of two was 45 when he was beaten and stabbed 11 times, just yards from his home at Cluan Place in east Belfast.

Walter Ervine, 43, of Litchfield Street in Belfast, Glenn Rainey, 38, of Ballyhalbert Caravan Park, and Robert Spiers, 41, of Millars Park in Belfast, were on trial in a non-jury court.

There were cheers in the public gallery when judge delivered his verdict on Friday afternoon.

The three men have each been given a life sentence, with a tariff to be fixed early next year.

Two men had previously admitted killing Mr Ogle.

Jonathan Brown, 39, from Whinney Hill in Dundonald and 45-year-old Mark Sewell of Glenmount Drive in Newtownabbey, were handed life sentences earlier in 2024.

Speaking outside the court after the verdict, Mr Ogle’s daughter Toni Johnston said the long wait for justice had been a “particularly difficult experience”.

“We feel that the judicial system in Northern Ireland needs serious change, particularly when a crime of this seriousness has been committed.

“After waiting for so long for a trial to take place it took a further 10 months for it to be completed.

“In the meantime, those charged with murder and assisting offences lived in our community.”

Mobile phone activity, attempts to leave Northern Ireland, and a murder weapon were all put together as circumstantial evidence against the men.

Summarising the case, the judge Mr Justice McFarland said that, according to a police camera that recorded the incident, it was a 30-second attack involving five men.

He also relayed evidence from a local pastor who prayed with Mr Ogle before the attack after the victim said “they were on their way”.

The pastor added that the men arrived with scarves over their faces and attacked with such ferocity they were like a “pack of hyenas”.

Mr Ogle’s cause of death was noted as a stab wound to the chest.

A pathologist recorded 37 bruises and a fractured skull from a fall.

Delivering his verdict, Mr Justice McFarland said it was a “classic joint enterprise case” and not a case of a “crime gone wrong”.

When considering the evidence, Mr Justice McFarland noted an ongoing feud in the area between two factions.

He pointed to a number of factors when making his verdict.

Of the murder weapons, which were found in the Connswater river, there was a baton and a 33cm (13in) knife with a serial number showing it was was bought as part of a knife set.

During a search of Spiers’ home, a six-knife set of that brand was discovered but the 33cm knife was missing.

Mr Justice McFarland said given that, the evidence was supportive that he carried and used that knife in the murder of Ian Ogle.

On the night of the murder, he noted a lack of phone calls between the five men for 43 minutes, in which time Mr Ogle was attacked.

That, the judge said, could infer that they were either together or had a plan not to be in contact.

The phones were taken off the network at about the same time later that evening.

They were never recovered by police.

“The only sentence I can pass is a life imprisonment”,” said the judge, adding that fixing of the tariff would take place in January.

“Take them down,” he said as many of those in the public gallery applauded.