Two men sentenced to life for murder of Belfast man Ian Ogle

Two men were sentenced to life in prison after admitting to the murder of Ian Ogle. Mr Ogle was beaten and stabbed to death close to his Cluan Place home in east Belfast on January 27, 2019 in an attack which a court heard was intended "to cause serious harm rather than to kill". A total of five men were charged with his murder and were due to stand trial at Belfast Crown court.

However, barristers for Jonathan Brown (38) and 45-year-old Mark Sewell addressed Mr Justice O'Hara and asked that their clients be re-arraigned on the single charge they faced. As the family of the 45-year-old father-of-two sat in the public gallery, both men were asked to stand and were then charged with murdering Mr Ogle. Brown, from Whinney Hill in Dundonald, was re-arraigned first and when asked how he pleaded to the murder charge, he replied "guilty." The court clerk then addressed Sewell, of Glenmount Drive in Newtownabbey. He was also re-arraigned and when asked if he pleaded guilty or not guilty to a charge of murdering Mr Ogle, he answered "guilty". Mr Justice O'Hara enquired if there were any further charges against Brown and Sewell and when he was told there were not, he spoke to both men as they stood in the dock. The pair were told by the senior judge: "Mr Brown and Mr Sewell, since you have both now pleaded guilty to murder I impose a life sentence upon you. "The minimum length of time which you will be required to serve in prison before your release will be considered will be set at a tariff hearing after the other parts of this trial are finished. "Your life sentence will start now." Barristers for both men said the defence had provided a "basis of plea" to the Crown, which has been agreed. A prosecuting barrister confirmed this and said: "Can I make clear what that basis is. It is that the intention was to cause serious harm rather than to kill." Three men now face trial on the murder charge. They are Glenn Rainey (37) whose address was given as Ballyhalbert Caravan Park, Walter Irvine (42) from Litchfield Street in Belfast and 41-year old Robert Spiers from Millars Park in Dundonald. A fourth defendant, Christopher Haire (54), from Killagan Bend in Belfast, faces a single charge of assisting an offender between January 26 and 29, 2019. Earlier this week, two Belfast men admitted 'lesser' charges arising from the murder. Reece Kirkwood (26) from Tower Court admitted a charge of withholding information concerning an arrestable offence between January 26 and 29, 2019, while Thomas McCartney from Wolff Close pleaded guilty to assisting an offender on the same dates. Last week the only female charged - Jill Morrison (41) of Wolfe Close in Belfast - pleaded guilty to assisting offenders. Further legal arguments in the case will take place next Monday and the trial is listed to start next Tuesday. All those who have pleaded guilty will be sentenced after the conclusion of the non-jury trial.

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