Man jailed over city squat murder

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6734263.stm

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A man has been jailed for 15 years after admitting the murder of a man who died five months after being beaten.

Stephen Lee Wright, 28, of Donegall Avenue, Belfast, attacked Noel McCombe, 50, in a squat in Ireton Street then set fire to the flat below it.

Belfast judge Mr Justice Stephens said Wright attacked Mr McCombe after he was wrongly accused of being a paedophile.

Russell Hector Hunter, 49, of Newtownards Road was jailed for 10 years after admitting manslaughter.

The crown court judge said Wright - who was described as a street drinking alcoholic - "verbally humiliated" his victim on Boxing Day 2004 and then "proceeded to extract brutal and merciless vengeance for what you believed Mr McCombe had done".

The judge added his culpability for the murder was aggravated by the fact that when he left the squat he set fire to the room below where his beaten victim and a woman lay, leaving them "to their fates".

Wright admitted murder and arson being reckless as to whether Mr McCombe's life and that of Elaine Hunter would be endangered.

Hunter, originally from Scotland, must serve a further two years on probation.

Mr Justice Stephens said he had never explained what happened but that he had joined in the attack on "a vulnerable and helpless individual".

"Physically assaulting a person who is either literally on the ground or is incapacitated through drink is abhorrent," he said.

"Severe sentences are also required to mark society's outright rejection of such behaviour and to reflect the tragedy of a life brought to an end."