Two jailed over 'dissident snowman' window mural in Derry
Two men have been convicted of displaying an alleged IRA painted mural on the offices of Junior McDaid House in Londonderry.
Both men have previous charges regarding the murder of journalist Lyra McKee, as well as the attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell.
The mural, contained the words "We Haven't Gone Away Ye Know", was painted on the window of the building which houses the offices of Saoradh, the political wing of the New I.R.A.
The painted mural on the window of the offices of Junior McDaid House in Chamberlain Street in the city which depicted a snowman wearing a back beret and black mask pressing a detonator attached to a command wire and a Santa Claus image holding a walkie-talkie, contrary to the Terrorism Act 2000.
The defendants, Jordan Devine, 24, from Bishop Street, who is currently on bail charged with the murder of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead during disturbances in the Creggan area of the city by a Real I.R.A. gunman in April 2019 and William McDonnell, 37, from Balbane Pass, who is currently in custody in Maghaberry Prison charged with offences linked to the attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell in Omagh last February, both received jail sentences following their convictions.
The defendant Devine was jailed for three months and the defendant McDonnell was jailed for four months. Both were then granted appeal bail with District Judge Barney McElholm ruling that the defendant McDonnell should not be released pending his appeal.
Both were convicted, following an uncontested hearing, of committing the offence at Junior McDaid House between November 23 and December 21, 2022.
A prosecution solicitor told Mr. McElholm that "all the papers in the case had been agreed". She said by their actions the defendants aroused a reasonable suspicion that they were a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation.
The prosecutor said the mural appeared seven days after a New IRA mortar bomb attack on police officers in Strabane.
At the end of the hearing, during which neither defendant gave evidence, the District Judge said he was satisfied the case against both defendants had been proven.
"I have absolutely no doubt that by painting this mural shows they showed their support for that type of activity", he said.
"The case is proven. Unless one was living on Venus or Mars, the very fact they came out of Junior McDaid House is enough to show their support for that illegal organisation in my view. It is well known this building is frequented by supporters of a proscribed organisation.
"To have painted that mural it was done so in the context of an evil attempt to kill two police officers in Strabane with a sideways mortar. The phrase borrowed from Mr. Adams they haven't gone away you know is one that resonates in this part of the world in that we are still here, we are still active and we are still doing what we do. At the very least these men were showing support for a proscribed organisation under the umbrella term which I know they do not like of Dissident IRA," he said.
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