Prosecutors consider appeal bid over Eddie Girvan killer's sentence

Margaret Henderson McCarroll, 31, was given a six-year term - three of which are to be spent behind bars - for the manslaughter of Eddie Girvan in his Greenisland home in Co Antrim.

Mr Girvan, a 67-year-old retired plumber, was found gagged and tied to a chair with two stab wounds to his chest in January 2016.

Henderson McCarroll, with a previous address at Verner Street, Belfast, admitted his manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The heroin addict claimed she was high on a cocktail of drugs at the time of the incident and insisted she acted in self-defence during a row about money she alleged Mr Girvan owed her for sex.

The Public Prosecution Service said it was reviewing the sentence handed down by Mr Justice Treacy in Belfast Crown Court on Monday to determine whether an appeal was justified.

"The Public Prosecution Service is considering if there is a basis to refer the sentence handed down in this case to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that it may be unduly lenient," said a PPS spokeswoman.

The PPS has 28 days within which to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal.