As the trio were sentenced, Mr Meenan’s family spoke outside court and said: “No sentence passed will bring him back. We never stop thinking about him. He’s always in our thoughts.”
Three men involved in the “sustained and brutal” killing of Eddie Meenan have been handed sentences totalling 41 years.
Rodgers, 34, of no fixed abode, who denied murdering Mr Meenan but who was unanimously convicted earlier this year by a jury, was told he will serve a minimum of 18 years in jail before he is considered eligible for release. Crossgar man Ryan Walters, 23, from Station Road, was found guilty by a jury on a charge of manslaughter. He was handed an eight-year sentence which Judge Donna McColgan QC divided equally between prison and licence.
In her statement, the grieving mother said her son’s absence has left “an emptiness in my heart and in my home” and that she was “devastated and heartbroken”. After entering the rear yard, the masked men were seen by Rodgers, Creswell and Walters who were drinking in the kitchen. The trio burst out the back and Rodgers immediately engaged in an attack on Mr Meenan, whilst the other two men engaged with Mr McConnell.
As well as being sentenced for their involvement in the fatal attack, Rodgers was handed a concurrent five-year sentence for perverting the course of justice by burning evidence including bloodied clothing in the aftermath of the murder, while Creswell and Walters were handed concurrent three-year sentences for the same offence.
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