Revealed: sectarian criminal history of Niall Sheerin – the man jailed for seven years for possession of the gun that killed Lyra McKee

Niall Sheerin was sentenced on Wednesday to seven years in prison for gun possession, plus five years on licence.

The News Letter also reveals here the details of other crimes involving the same gun, as well as bail information.

The jailing of Sheerin comes against a general backdrop of concern over the handling of paramilitary offenders, with a number of unionist politicians saying that the authorities are too lax in terms of sentencing and too willing to bail out suspects.

Miss McKee, 29 and from north Belfast, was a freelance writer who was killed by a gunshot intended for police on April 18, 2019, fired by a group calling itself “the New IRA”.

Whilst the basic details of Sheerin’s sentencing at Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday have been reported in the media, the News Letter has read through the full 10-page judgement by Mr Justice Fowler – and it paints a much more vivid picture of the affair.

For one, it reveals the criminal record of Londonderry man Sheerin, aged 29 (and who worked at Ladbrokes bookies at the time he was arrested on July 15, 2020).

CRIMINAL HISTORY:

It states: “The defendant has previous convictions for 15 offences, beginning in 2010 when he was 16 years old, including offences of disorderly behaviour, assault on and resisting police, and offences of riotous behaviour, criminal damage, assault on police and possession of an offensive weapon, committed in July 2011.

“In a number of those incidents he has made sectarian or anti-police comments towards the police, on one occasion, when he was aged 17, shouting ‘up the dissidents’, and in another, when he was 18 years old, ‘I hope you all get shot’.

“The incident in July 2011 concerned a time when stones and bottles were thrown into the Fountain Estate [the sole remaining loyalist enclave on the west side of Londonderry].

“When the police arrived, around six people started throwing stones at them. One of them was the defendant who was seen armed with a glass bottle and, on seeing one of the officers, ran towards him shouting ‘black b******s”, throwing the bottle so that it narrowly missed his head.

“He was later seen to throw a missile which struck a police vehicle and another which hit a care home.”

HOW WAS HE CAUGHT?:

When it comes to the police investigation after the McKee murder, the judgement states this: “On June 5, 2020, police and army carried out a search of a field adjacent to Whitehouse Road, close to the Ballymagroarty area of Londonderry.

“While searching along the fence line a member of the army search team recovered a .22 Hammerli X pistol and eight rounds of compatible .22 calibre ammunition from what appeared to be an animal burrow.

“The weapon and bullets were stored wrapped in plastic bin liners.

“Forensic examination of the gun located the defendants DNA on the slide, magazine outer edges, magazine release and safety catch of the handgun.”

When arrested and questioned, Sheerin replied “no comment” to all questions, and instead handed officers a prepared statement saying that he had never touched a gun in his life, and was “at a loss” as to how his DNA was on the weapon.

FOUR MEN WERE SHOT BEFORE LYRA MCKEE WAS, USING SAME WEAPON:

Though it has been reported in the media that the same gun was used in four other attacks, it has not been reported what those were.

The written judgement from the court however sets them out as follows:

> September 12, 2018: A “paramilitary punishment-style shooting” of Ryan O’Reilly in the Creggan area, who was shot in both legs;

> October 5, 2018: A Gerald Heaney was shot in both legs in a similar attack at his home in the Brandywell area;

> December 1, 2018: Neil Lowry turned up at A&E with wounds to both knees after gunfire was heard in the Creggan estate;

> March 8, 2019: a Ciaran Burke was shot in both legs in an alley close to his home in the Bogside.

SO WHAT WAS SHEERIN CONVICTED OF SPECIFICALLY?

He faced three charges:

> Possessing a firearm in suspicious circumstances (not guilty plea);

> Possessing a handgun without a certificate (no plea entered);

> And possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

As part of a plea deal with the PPS, Sheerin pleaded guilty to the last charge, on the basis that he was allowing others to endanger life, not carrying out the attacks himself.

The other two charges were “left on the books” (in other words, they were not proceeded with, but could be re-activated at a later date).

The specific law which he admitted breaking – The Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004, s.58. – allows for a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The judge said that if he had not admitted the offence and had fought it at trial, he would have got up to 10 years in jail.

He also took the fact Sheerin has three young children into account as “very limited mitigation”.

The News Letter has also learned that Sheerin was first charged on July 16, 2020, and then held on remand.

He successfully applied to the High Court to be freed on bail just 22 days later.

NORTHERN IRELAND’S RECORD ON FREEING DISSIDENTS:

Often people on paramilitary charges are bailed only after they have been waiting long periods of time for a trial to begin.

Releasing a suspect – particularly those involved in organised crime / paramilitarism – can increase the risk of witness intimidation, absconding, or of other offences being committed, and judges have to balance this risk against people’s right not to be unduly detained.

Arguably one of the UK’s biggest criminal justice scandals in living memory involved the bailing of Damien McLaughlin, which this newspaper led the way in exposing.

A man with prior terror convictions, standing accused of serious offences linked to the murder of David Black, he was freed on bail, fled the country, and the police did not notice for weeks – even though he was meant to be signing bail routinely at a police station.

Even when they noticed, they were in no hurry to act.

In the end he was caught in Donegal and brought back to face trial.

He was acquitted of all offences.

He was never charged with absconding.

But even when dissidents have been convicted, the sentences handed down have raised eyebrows.

For example in one case the News Letter looked at, a dissident republican called Conall Corbett was convicted of multiple crimes arising from a plot to kill police officers by detonating a bomb behind a north Belfast billboard.

Attempts at detonation failed, and the plotters called in the bomb squad to defuse it.

Corbett was linked to the plot via mobile phone activity.

He walked away from court with a suspended sentence.

What is more, he has continued voicing support for violent republicanism since then, even after the judge was told he had changed his tune:

Dissident who avoided jail after judge was told he had ‘matured’ is still a vocal supporter of hardcore republicans

It is not just paramilitary suspects whom the PSNI has seemed less-than-enthusiastic about tracking down, as this article from a couple of weeks ago illustrates (again, the News Letter was alone in reporting on this):

• PSNI stresses its commitment to public safety after waiting 10 MONTHS to issue ‘wanted person’ appeal for missing suspect