TRIO FOUND GUILTY OF MURDERING EAST BELFAST MAN IN 2019 AS DAUGHTER SEEKS SWIFTER PROCEEDINGS

Liam Tunney, Belfast Telegraph, November 23rd, 2024

The daughter of Ian Ogle has called for judicial reform in Northern Ireland after three men were found guilty of his 2019 murder in east Belfast.

Walter Ervine (43), of Litchfield Street, Belfast, Glenn Rainey (38), of Ballyhalbert Caravan Park, and Robert Spiers (41), of Millars Park, Dundonald, were found guilty after going on trial accused of killing the 45-year-old father-of-two.

The verdict was delivered by Mr Justice McFarland at a sitting of Belfast Crown Court yesterday following the trial's conclusion.

Mr Ogle was beaten and stabbed a total of 11 times yards from his Cluan Place home at around 9.20pm on Sunday, January 27, 2019.

Earlier this year, Jonathan Brown (39), from Whinney Hill in Dundonald, and 45-year old Mark Sewell, of Glenmount Drive in Newtownabbey, were handed life sentences after they pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Ogle.

Ervine, Rainey and Spiers all denied a single charge of murder.

Speaking outside Belfast Crown Court after the verdict, Mr Ogle's daughter Toni Johnston said the length of time for a trial put witnesses at risk and caused added distress to her family.

“As a family, we feel the judicial system in Northern Ireland needs change, particularly when a crime of this seriousness has been committed,” Ms Johnston said. “We believe it is unfair that victims and witnesses in Northern Ireland have had to wait so long to go through this process and see justice delivered.

“I also want to emphasise that after waiting so long for a trial to take place, it took a further 10 months for it to be completed.”

She also said that, during the wait for the trial, those charged with her father's murder lived “yards from where the crime took place, and from the victim's family” and “yards from the witnesses in the trial who were targeted throughout the years, including having their names identified on walls and on social media”.

“The length of wait put indefensible strains on the people directly involved in the trial, as well as a damaging effect on the community,” she added.

“In Northern Ireland, I believe we should have some serious conversations as to why our trial process takes so much longer than in the rest of the UK, particularly when some cases involve paramilitary organisations, and should be treated with added urgency.”

A prolonged non-jury trial which lasted around 10 months took a further twist in July when barristers acting on behalf of Ervine, Rainey and Spiers launched 'no case to answer' applications on the grounds there was insufficient evidence to proceed any further.

In September, having heard the Crown case against the men, the senior judge rejected that bid to have the cases against them dismissed.

During a lengthy verdict, the judge said Mr Ogle had been struck a number of times with a telescopic flick bat and a baseball bat during the attack.

The court heard Mr Ogle tried to shield himself from the attack, but was beaten to the ground.

One witness was told by a member of the gang that “if you f***ing say anything, you'll get the same”.

CCTV footage of the incident captured from a camera at the mouth of Cluan Place showed the altercation, which began at approximately 9.20pm and lasted just 30 seconds.

It was apparent to paramedics who had arrived on the scene that Mr Ogle was dead.

He was pronounced as such at around 10.10pm that night.

An autopsy found he had been stabbed 11 times during the assault, with eight wounds on the top left hand side of his back.

One wound had penetrated deeply enough to reach the aorta, which resulted in catastrophic internal bleeding.

Mr Ogle's cause of death was recorded as a stab wound to the chest.

He also had a fractured skull at the roof of his eye socket and 37 bruising sites on his body.

On legal advice, all three defendants declined to give evidence or call evidence during the trial.

Judge McFarland acknowledged that they were within their rights to do so, but said the prosecution's case “firmly called for an answer”.

Mr McFarland said it was a “classic joint enterprise case”.

“This is not a case of a crime gone wrong. The facts of this case are such that the four men in the group who did not use the knife are equally guilty,” he said.

The judge read lengthy clothing analysis which he said indicated that the defendants were among the group who attacked Mr Ogle.

Telephone records showed consistent communication between the five men until around 10 minutes before Mr Ogle was killed, before resuming contact around half an hour afterwards.

“A strong inference can be drawn...that the group did not need to communicate with each other because they were in each other's company,” said Mr McFarland.

Phones belonging to the men were disconnected from the network later that night. Judge McFarland concluded that all three defendants were guilty.

“I cannot identify any evidence that points away from any defendant,” he said.

There were cheers from the gallery following the judge's remarks.

Mr McFarland directed reports be compiled on the three defendants and set a review date of December 6.

He concluded proceedings by sentencing all three to life imprisonment.

Ian Ogle: Relief for family as three found guilty of his murder

His daughter Toni Johnston said it is unfair that victims have to wait so long in Northern Ireland for a trial.

By Jonathan McCambridge and David Young, PA, Irish News, November 22nd, 2024

The family of Ian Ogle expressed relief at the end of a “long, difficult process” after three men were found guilty of his murder in Belfast. They also called for a “serious look” at the judicial system in Northern Ireland and described as “unfair” how long victims have to wait for a trial compared with the rest of the UK.

Mr Ogle was 45 when he was beaten and stabbed 11 times just yards from his Cluan Place home in the east of the city in January 2019.

Delivering his verdict in the non-jury trial, Mr Justice McFarland said he was satisfied that Glenn Rainey, 38, from Ballyhalbert Caravan Park, Walter Ervine, 43, from Litchfield Street in Belfast, and Robert Spiers, 41, from Millars Park in Dundonald, were part of a group of five men who had carried out the attack.

The judge told the three men the only sentence he could hand down was life imprisonment.

There were cheers from the Ogle family when the verdict was announced at Belfast Crown Court on Friday.

The three defendants showed no emotion as the verdicts were read.

Two men had previously admitted killing Mr Ogle.

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

Delivering his judgment, the judge said there had been an “ongoing feud” between two factions in east Belfast after some of the defendants were involved in an incident in a bar with Mr Ogle’s son in 2017. On the evening Mr Ogle was attacked, he and his son had been involved in an assault on another man on the Beersbridge Road. The judge said this had been a precipitating factor in the fatal attack later that night.

CCTV footage indicated Mr Ogle had been the victim of a 30-second attack, the judge said.

Witnesses said Mr Ogle was attacked with a baton and a knife, and his head was stamped upon.

A local pastor, Kevin Sambrook, who had been speaking with Mr Ogle before the attack and gave evidence during the trial, described the group acting “like a pack of hyenas”, the judge said.

Mr Ogle died from a stab wound to the chest and had also suffered extensive bruising and a fractured skull.

Mr Justice McFarland said: “This is the classic joint enterprise case.

Two men have been handed life sentences after pleading guilty to the murder of Ian Ogle in east Belfast.

Mr Ogle, 45, was beaten and stabbed 11 times near his home in Cluan Place in January 2019.

Jonathan Brown, 38, from Whinney Hill in Dundonald and Mark Sewell, 45, of Glenmount Drive in Newtownabbey both plead guilty to the charge of murder after being rearraigned on Thursday.

The judge then imposed life sentences for both men at Belfast Crown court.

Members of Mr Ogle's family sat in the public gallery as Mr Justice O'Hara informed both men they would serve life sentences after entering their guilty pleas.

Ian Ogle was beaten and stabbed 11 times near his home in Cluan Place in January 2019

“The man who used the knife may have direct responsibility for the death but it is clear beyond any doubt that each of the five men were involved in the attack on Ian Ogle and each intended to cause him at the very least really serious bodily injury.” He added the case against the three defendants was circumstantial and the prosecution case was made up of a number of strands.

Considering the evidence, the judge said a strong inference could be drawn from the mobile phone activity between the defendants on the night of the murder.

He said: “The overwhelming inference that can be drawn from the telephony evidence is that Brown, Sewell, Rainey, Ervine and Spiers made up the group that murdered Ian Ogle.”

Mr Justice McFarland also said the fact two of the defendants had both left Northern Ireland the day after the murder – Rainey flew to Thailand via Moscow and Ervine sailed to Scotland – was a strong contributory piece of evidence against them.

The judge said police had recovered an Ernesto knife and an extendable baton from the Connswater River two weeks after the murder.

He said a search of Spiers’s house revealed an Ernesto knife missing from a set.

The judge also said Spiers had lied to the police about not having a mobile phone.

Mr Justice McFarland said he also drew an inference from the fact none of the three defendants had given evidence in the trial to answer evidence against them.

The judge concluded: “I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Rainey, Ervine and Spiers were part of the group, the others being Brown and Sewell, that murdered Ian Ogle at Cluan Place.”

Addressing the defendants, he said: “The only sentence I can pass is life imprisonment and I now pass that sentence.”

The judge said a tariff hearing to determine the minimum amount of time each would spend in prison would he held in July.

Before the three were led from the dock, Spiers blew a kiss to someone in the public gallery.

There were emotional scenes outside court as Mr Ogle’s family gathered together to say the Lord’s Prayer.

Johnston thanked all those who supported the family since her father’s murder in 2019, the detectives involved in the investigation and the judge for bringing the case to a successful conclusion, describing a “difficult process”.

“As anyone who has witnessed the trial and heard the facts and evidence will know, it was a very complex one,” she said.

“It has taken almost six years to get to this moment and that has been a particularly difficult experience.

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

“We believe it is unfair that victims and witnesses in Northern Ireland have to wait so long to go through this process and see justice delivered.

“I also want to emphasise that after waiting 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 yards from where the crime took place.

“They were also yards from the murder victim’s family.

“The length of the wait put indefensible strains on the people directly involved in the trial as well as having a damaging effect on the wider community.

“In Northern Ireland, I believe we should have some serious conversations about why our trial process takes so much longer than in the rest of the UK.”

Toni Johnston says that near six-year wait for justice no a cause for celebration, but she was thankful it had finally ended

Sunday Life, November 24th, 2024

THE daughter of murder victim Ian Ogle has branded the man who wielded the knife on the night of her dad's killing as “downright evil”.

Robert 'Rab' Spiers (41) of Millars Park, Dundonald, carried the 33cm kitchen knife as an east Belfast UVF gang beat and stabbed Ian Ogle 11 times near his home on Cluan Place in east Belfast on the evening of January 27, 2019.

On Friday Spiers, Glenn Rainey (38), of Ballyhalbert Caravan Park, and Walter Ervine (43), of Litchfield Street, Belfast, were found guilty by Mr Justice McFarland after a non-jury trial.

Last night Mr Ogle's grieving daughter Toni Johnston told Sunday Life she “feels nothing” for the three killers who “thought they were invincible” after their conviction for her father's murder. She added: “I do think that justice has been served and we know that all five men attacked my daddy and are now aware that Robert Spiers had the knife and caused the fatal wound.

“I don't know how anyone could ever live with themselves knowing the pain that they have inflicted, not just on my family, but on many friends and people in the community.”

In his judgment, Mr Justice McFarland stated: “I consider that the fact the 33cm Ernesto knife was missing from Spiers's house, and such a knife was located in the Connswater river is very supportive of the proposition that Spiers carried and used that knife in the murder of Ian Ogle.”

Earlier this year two other members of the gang, Jonathan Brown (39), from Whinney Hill in Dundonald, and 45-year-old Mark Sewell of Glenmount Drive in Newtownabbey, pleaded guilty to the murder of Mr Ogle, who was known as 'Big O'.

On Friday evening flags were erected on the Clarawood Estate in a defiant gesture aimed at the East Belfast UVF.

One flag featured a red fist icon in front of the scales of justice on a blue background and read 'Justice for Ian Ogle' while another with a white background also appeared with the slogan 'In memory of Big O'.

Toni explained the near six-year-long wait for justice was not a cause for celebration, but that she was thankful it has finally come to an end.

“We are all still in a state of shock that it's finally over with, I didn't know what way it was going to go, I had no idea,” she said.

She wasn't actually in the public gallery of courtroom 12 at Belfast Crown Court on Friday to hear the senior judge pronounce all three men guilty of her father's murder, having become overwhelmed with emotion during the near four-hour-long delivery of the judgment.

“I was actually in the witness room because just before the verdict I found it difficult to listen to it,” recalled Toni. “I actually left the courtroom and sat in the witness room, I was then informed that they were all guilty.

“I broke down in tears even more…I do think justice has been served.”

A loud cheer went up from family, friends and supporters in the public gallery as Mr Justice McFarland said he was “satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt” the men were part of the gang who murdered the father-of-two and imposed the mandatory life sentence.

Toni explained how she believes the paramilitary gang of five was able to set out on a Sunday evening to murder a man on his own street in front of witnesses without a second thought. “There was a group in east Belfast for a long time who were causing so much fear and terror in the community and I think their egos got the best of them,” she said.

“They thought they were invincible and because of that they made mistakes… at the time of the murder they were linked to the East Belfast UVF under the former leadership.

“I think because they knew they had the protection of the former leadership, they thought they could do what they wanted and get away with it.”

Toni said the case showed those who challenge paramilitaries and other criminal elements in their communities can win.

“Speak up, don't let anyone scare you into silence. Before my daddy was murdered we didn't say much and they still murdered him,” she said.

When asked what she would say to the trio if she ever wished to speak to them, Toni said: “I would just say I feel nothing towards you.

“You do not get an ounce of my energy, I feel absolutely nothing. When I saw them in the dock I felt nothing, they didn't deserve my energy.”

Despite being aware of the generally lower tariffs imposed for murder in Northern Ireland compared to the rest of the UK, Toni still holds out hope that a lengthy minimum sentence will be handed down.

“I hope he throws the book at them because the longer those men are off the streets of east Belfast, the safer east Belfast will be,” she said.

Toni praised Mr Justice McFarland for his conduct of the case and the consideration shown to her family but hit out at the lengthy delays which currently plague the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland.

“I feel relieved and pleased but there is also a sense of, not guilt as such, but I feel bad for those who are still enduring the whole harrowing process of the judicial system,” she said.

“We are extremely pleased that my daddy's case was able to come to a conclusion but there is still part of me that still feels really bad for families here in Northern Ireland who are nowhere near close to that stage in their fight for justice.”

Toni added: “There's absolutely no winners here because my daddy is not coming back…my daddy can now rest in peace but we still have to go on each day without him.”

In May 2013 at a UVF parade in east Belfast, Sunday Life photographed Ian Ogle and one of the UVF men who would take part in his murder less than six years later.

At the forefront of the image is the murder victim, cap in hand, staring intently at the camera.

Marching directly behind him is Stephen 'Mackers' Matthews — the alleged former leader of the East Belfast UVF — who knew nothing about the killing until the next day. On the far right of the photograph is Mark Sewell, a suspected UVF serial killer who pleaded guilty earlier this year to murdering Ian Ogle.