From a Belfast man being jailed for child abuse offences committed when he was a teenager to life in prison for the pair who murdered a Northern Ireland man and dumped his body off Ireland's tallest sea cliffs, it's been a busy week in the courts.
This is our new weekly roundup of some of those who have been before the courts this first week of March 2025.
Look out for:
Robert 'Robin' Wilkin killers sentenced for "callous" murder Sex offender jailed for abusing three boys Former Queen's University student found guilty of drugging and raping 10 women Woman, 87, "shouldn't have been driving" as she ran over gran and granddaughterMan to stand trial next month charged with murder of Chloe Mitchell
Alan Vial and Nikita Burns
This past week saw a man and a woman sentenced to life imprisonment by an Irish court for the murder of a Northern Ireland man in Co Donegal.
Robert 'Robin' Wilkin, 66 and a native of Omagh, Co Tyrone, was thrown off the Sliabh Liag cliffs on June 25 2023. Alan Vial and Nikita Burns were found guilty of the murder this week and sentenced at Dublin's Central Criminal Court on Friday.
Vial (39), from Drumanoo Head, Killybegs and Burns (23), of Carrick, Co Donegal had pleaded not guilty to Mr Wilkin's murder. A jury found each guilty of murder by majority, ten to two, verdicts on Thursday following a two-month trial. Mr Justice Paul McDermott sentenced both to the mandatory term of life imprisonment.
Stephen-Lee McIlvenny
Friday also saw 21-year-old Stephen-Lee McIlvenny from west Belfast, sentenced to a 23-year custodial sentence at Craigavon Crown Court for 77 charges of child sexual abuse crimes. These included rape, adult causing or inciting child between 13 and 16 to engage in sexual activity and sexual assault by penetration.
He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and will be subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) for 10 years upon release. McIlvenny befriended each of his victims who were several years younger by identifying common interests. He offended between the ages of 16 and 19, abusing three young boys aged 14-15.
Zhenhao Zou
Elsewhere, Zhenhao Zou, 28 and a former student of Queen’s University Belfast, was convicted of drugging and raping ten women. The harrowing attacks involved two women who have been identified and another eight who have yet to be traced.
He filmed nine of the attacks as “souvenirs”, and kept a trophy box of women’s belongings, jurors in his four week trial at Inner London Crown Court were told.
Judge Rosina Cottage said he is a “dangerous and predatory sexual offender” and warned him he faces a “very long” jail term when he is sentenced on June 19. But the Metropolitan Police fear he may have have targeted more than 50 more potential victims.
The student, who moved to Belfast in 2017 to study before coming to London in 2019 to do a master's degree and then a PhD at UCL, faced a total of 35 counts. He denied 11 counts of rape as well as three counts of voyeurism, 12 of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of false imprisonment and eight of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence.
Valerie Greenwood
A Derry woman said this week that the memory of a car driving over her three-year-old granddaughter will "haunt her for the rest of her life" as she called for legislative change to limit elderly drivers.
Donna Deeney and her young granddaughter Fiadh were injured when they were hit by 87-year-old driver Valerie Greenwood on Main Street, Eglington in December, 2023, while they were attempting to cross the road at a pedestrian crossing.
Donna suffered a broken leg and wrist and has been left permanently traumatised by the ordeal. Fiadh was lucky to avoid serious injuries due to her grandmother being hit by the vehicle first and protecting her from the initial impact of the car.
During Greenwood's sentencing at Derry Crown Court on Thursday, Judge Rafferty said that in his view she "should not have been driving" due to the impact that age had on her cognitive ability. She later received a 12 month prison sentence suspended for two years, primarily due to her age and health concerns.
Ms Deeney is now backing the campaign by the family of tragic eight-year-old Scarlett Rossborough, who was killed in a collision by a driver in his 90s, calling for the introduction of testing for elderly drivers and the compulsory surrendering of a driving licence by the age of 85.
Brandon Rainey
The trial of a Co Antrim man charged with the murder of Chloe Mitchell nearly two years ago is on track to start after the Easter holidays, a court heard on Thursday.
Members of Ms Mitchell's family along with friends and family supporters packed into the public gallery at Belfast Crown Court for an update in the case. Brandon John Rainey, 28, formerly of James Street, in Ballymena previously pleaded not guilty to murdering the 21-year-old on June 3, 2023 which was aggravated by domestic abuse.
He further pleaded not guilty to attempting to prevent the lawful and decent burial of her body on the same date. The trial is expected to start on Monday, April 28 and last up to three weeks.
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