A riot in the Creggan area of Derry, which included shots being fired at police Land Rovers, could have been “a staged show of force for propaganda purposes”, a court heard on Monday.
Journalist Lyra McKee (29) died after being struck by a bullet fired at police vehicles parked in the Fanad Drive area of Creggan during serious unrest on April 18th, 2019.
Nine men from the city are on trial at Belfast Crown Court on a range of charges arising from the riot on April 18th, 2019, as well as street disorder in Derry two days beforehand.
Three defendants have been charged with murdering Ms McKee, possessing a firearm and ammunition and other linked offences including rioting and possessing and throwing petrol bombs.
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They are not alleged to have fired the gun used to kill Ms McKee but with intentionally encouraging or assisting the gunman on a joint enterprise basis.
Paul McIntyre (58) from Kells Walk, Jordan Devine (25) from Bishop Street and Peter Cavanagh (37) from Mary Street deny the charges against them.
Their co-accused have been charged with offences including rioting and throwing petrol bombs.
They are Christopher Gillen (45) from Balbane Pass, Joseph Campbell (25) from Gosheden Cottages, Patrick Gallagher (33) from John Field Place, Jude McCrory (28) from Gartan Square, Joseph Barr (37) from Sandringham Drive and Kieran McCool (57) from Ballymagowan Gardens.
A 10th defendant, William Elliot (58) from Ballymagowan Garden in Derry, died in England last February.
All nine accused have denied the charges.
The long-running non-jury trial is now in its final stages.
On Monday Justice Smyth was addressed by two defence barristers who made submissions on behalf of their clients.
John Kearney KC, defending Peter Cavanagh, described the case against his client as “circumstantial”.
He questioned whether it had been proven that the gunman who fired at the armoured Land Rovers “in a 30-second burst of shooting” had an intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm to police officers and suggested this issue needed “appropriate scrutiny”.
Kearney said that when the shots were fired “no officer” was out of their Land Rover and that there was “no serious penetrative damage” caused to the police vehicles.
Kearney spoke of the presence of television presenter Reggie Yates and the MTV crew in Derry on the morning, afternoon and evening of April 18th, 2019.
He told Justice Smyth that due to everything she knew about what had taken place on that date it could be inferred that what occurred in Creggan that evening was “consistent with a staged show of force, a show of strength, for propaganda purposes”.
This, he said, was “important contextual background” when considering the “shooting incident”.
Instead of an intention to kill, Kearney suggested “this activity was with an eye to publicity ... that was the predominant purpose for the unfolding trouble generally”.
He then turned to the joint enterprise murder charge faced by Cavanagh, who the Crown say was Person G in the footage, who was wearing a camouflage mask covering this face and who was part of the “shooting party”.
It is also the Crown’s case that Person G faced the crowd in a stewarding role around the time of the gun attack.
Kearney told Justice Smyth there was “no evidence” Person G had his hands raised.
Cavanagh’s barrister also raised the issue of his client’s DNA being present on the zip pull of a burned item of clothing found close to where a car hijacked during the riot was later abandoned.
Kearney suggested there could be an “entirely innocent” or “other viable possibilities” for this such as touching the garment or coughing or sneezing on it.
The senior judge was also addressed by Ciaran Mallon KC, defending Christopher Gillen.
Gillen has been charged with petrol bomb offences on April 16th and 18th, 2019, as well as stealing and setting fire to a Ford Transit tipper truck on April 18th.
It is the Crown’s case that Gillen is the masked Person L in the footage on April 18th, with Mallon saying the case against his client was “based exclusively on clothing identification”.
Mallon said the clothing worn by Person L in the footage – which included a Trespass jacket and blue Nike trainers – did not match the description of the clothing worn by those who stole the tipper truck.
He said that when Gillen’s home was subsequently searched, neither the jacket nor the trainers were found.
Closing submissions on behalf of the defence are expected to continue on Tuesday.
The trial continues.
