A man on trial for rioting and throwing petrol bombs on the night Lyra McKee was shot and killed has died, it was confirmed in court on Friday.
Prosecution counsel David McDowell KC furnished Belfast Crown Court with an official death certificate for William Patrick Elliott.
Known in Derry as Billy Elliott, the 58-year-old, formerly of Ballymagowan Gardens, was living in England and attended his trial via video link.
He denied charges of riotously assembling with others and throwing petrol bombs “with intent to cause the destruction of or damage to property of another or to cause personal injury to another” on April 18, 2019.
Mr McDowell told Belfast Recorder Judge Patricia Smyth that a death certificate had now been obtained and had been lodged with court along with a “proposed form of words to endorse the indictment”.
Defence counsel Greg Berry KC said he had no issue with the document or the proposed form of words as there was “no dispute about Mr Elliott’s death”.
No details were opened in court about the cause of Elliott’s death or when he died but it is understood he passed away at the end of last month. The Belfast Recorder has been sitting on the Lyra McKee murder trial and other offences arising out of her killing by the New IRA.
The judge said: “I have been provided with a death certificate in this particular case which has been produced to me in respect of William Patrick Elliott, a defendant in this trial.
“I order that the indictment be endorsed and to be declared now of no legal effect and the file be closed unless and until cause being shown to the court otherwise.”
Lyra McKee, a 29-year-old journalist and author from Belfast, was killed after being struck on the head by a single bullet as she observed rioting in Derry’s Creggan area on the night of April 18, 2019. The New IRA claimed responsibility for her death.
Three are on trial for Ms McKee’s murder: Peter Cavanagh, 35, of Mary Street, Derry; Jordan Gareth Devine, 23, of Bishop Street, Derry; and Paul McIntyre, 56, of Kells Walk, Derry, are standing trial for murder.
Six co-accused - who are also from Derry - are facing charges including rioting and throwing petrol bombs.
They are Christopher Gillen, 44, from Balbane Pass, Joseph Campbell, 24, from Gosheden Cottages, 32-year old Patrick Gallagher from John Field Place, Jude McCrory, 27, from Gartan Square, Joseph Barr, 36, from Sandringham Drive and 56-year old Kieran McCool from Ballymagowan Gardens.
All nine men have denied the charges levelled against them. The non-jury Diplock-style trial is currently the subject of legal arguments and it is expected to resume around Easter time.
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