Northern Ireland's courts were busy this week, as a conviction was given to a woman for benefit fraud and sentencing confirmed for a man found guilty of murder.
Also in the headlines from courts this week was the distressing detail of physical, emotional and long-lasting damage caused to vulnerable young women by 71-year old Oliver James MacCormack - he used these women for sex work in exchange for heroin.
Below is our new weekly roundup of some of those who have been before the courts this week, beginning April 7 2025.
Woman convicted of wrongfully claiming thousands in benefits
A woman was convicted in court after being found claiming thousands in benefits illegally.
Amanda Clements, of Moyle Parade, Larne, appeared at Ballymena Magistrates' Court on Monday, April 7, where she was found guilty of benefit fraud after claiming £7,398 from Universal Credit whilst failing to declare that she was working.
She received a sentence of 120 hours community service and has also been ordered to repay any outstanding money that she claimed.
Man deemed to “pose a serious risk of harm” to female partners jailed
A Co Antrim man deemed to “pose a serious risk of harm” to female partners was handed a sentence totalling six years on Tuesday for domestic offences.
Samuel William David Hefferon - who has been assessed as a ‘dangerous offender’- had an extended custodial sentence imposed comprising of four years custody followed by an extended period of two years on licence.
As she jailed Hefferon, Judge Patricia Smyth said: “This case demonstrated how hard it is for victims of domestic abuse to leave their perpetrator.”
Man guilty of murdering victim whose dismembered remains found in reservoir
A man was found guilty of murdering Damien Heagney whose dismembered remains were recovered from a reservoir around eight months after he was last seen alive.
Stephen Eugene McCourt, 41, previously of Gartland Terrace, Dromore then Riverview in Augher, Co Tyrone denied murdering the victim between 31 December 2021 and 6 January 2022, but the jury took just under three hours to unanimously convict him on Wednesday.
The trial at Dungannon Crown Court heard that in July 2022 Mr Heagney’s GP practice contacted police to carry out a welfare check as he hadn’t collected his medication in-person since 7 December 2021, and until May 2022 it was collected by someone else who claimed to have permission to do so.
OAP pervert who used vulnerable women for sex work in exchange for heroin jailed
The victims of a man who plied them with heroin then used them out for sexual services reacted with anger on Thursday when he was handed a seven-year sentence.
As 71-year old Oliver James MacCormack was being led into the dock of Belfast Crown Court for the sentence hearing, he turned to the public gallery and glared at some of his victims and their families.
After Judge Gordon Kerr KC imposed the seven-year sentence - which will be divided equally between prison and licence - one person shouted “boo” then the public gallery erupted.
Driver who killed young NI boy, 9, propelled him 58 metres
A young driver who knocked down and killed a nine-year-old boy in Co Donegal after reaching speeds of up to 111km/h was jailed for five years and banned from driving for 20 years.
Sergee Kelly struck Ronan Wilson, from Kildress, Co Tyrone, with such force that he propelled him 58 metres down the road from the point of impact in the seaside town of Bundoran on September 23, 2023. Kelly fled the scene of the tragedy in his silver Skoda Octavia car but the entire incident at Atlantic Way had been captured on CCTV.
The 24-year-old accused then went on a drugs and booze binge and visited local amusement arcades before being arrested the following day.
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