Cailean Crawford (28) had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Thomas McCarthy (55)
A violent criminal who “assassinated” a grandfather by emptying “the contents of a pistol” into him when he answered the front door at his mother’s home and later perjured himself at trial, has been sentenced to life in prison.
That sentence expired in June, Det Sgt McDermott said, but Crawford remained in custody, having been arrested in relation to this offence in October 2020. The jury of six men and six women deliberated for eight hours and 20 minutes before returning their unanimous verdict, agreeing with the State’s case that Crawford was the assassin who fired several times, fatally injuring Mr McCarthy, having come to the scene in a blue Ford Fiesta car which was seen driving in and out of the area on CCTV.
He said he was glad the panel had rejected certain matters that were put to them by Mr Crawford during the trial, in particular the suggestion that because he was seen back at work delivering parcels “in a normal manner” a couple of hours after the killing that they should draw the inference that he was a “normal person” who was unlikely to have been involved in “a grotesque outrage like this”.
McClean, who was already serving consecutive sentences of 16.5-years for facilitating the murder of Thomas McCarthy and conspiring to murder Wayne Whelan, was jailed for an additional three-and-a-half years for impeding the apprehension of the person who murdered Mr Desmond. Crawford took the stand during his trial and told the jury that he was being “blamed” as the “centre point” of a murder he didn’t commit after he loaned the van to McClean. He said he had handed the van over to a man with “bones sticking out of his face” who was a “mate” of McClean’s.
He extended his sympathy to Mr McCarthy’s family, saying that to lose a relative prematurely in “such violent circumstances” leaves wounds that can never adequately heal. She said Mr McCarthy is constantly in her thoughts and the “pain, anger, loneliness, worry and heartache” have been overwhelming. Danielle McCarthy, the deceased’s niece, said her uncle always “lived life to the full” and loved travelling and seeing other parts of the world whenever he got the chance.
Ms McCarthy said her son had done “nothing wrong” and questioned why Crawford “took a lovely chap like that away from us.”
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