This past week saw double killer Hazel Stewart fail in her bid to have her sentence reduced
Hazel Stewart (Image: Paul Faith/PA Wire)
Northern Ireland’s courts were busy this week where in one of several cases heard, double murderer Hazel Stewart was refused leave to appeal against the length of her sentence for killing her policeman husband and the wife of her ex-lover.
Also in the headlines from courts over the past five days was a man who murdered another man and then dismembered and dumped his body in a reservoir being sentenced to a minimum of 24 years.
And a man who took part in a racially motivated riot in Belfast last summer “out of boredom” was jailed for 20 months.
Below is our weekly roundup of some of those who have been before the courts this week, beginning June 23, 2025.
Look out for:
- NI man jailed for “abhorrent” neglect of six dogs kept in filthy conditions
- Man convicted of rape in two jurisdictions jailed
- Hazel Stewart refused early release bid
- Couple sentenced after smuggling £200K of cannabis into Belfast airport
- Family describe “terrible nightmare” as man jailed for killing Ryan McNab
- Man who took part in Belfast race riots “out of boredom” jailed
- Man who murdered and dismembered victim gets minimum 24 years
NI man jailed for “abhorrent” neglect of six dogs kept in filthy conditions
A Co Antrim man was jailed this week for “abhorrent” neglect of six dogs kept in filthy conditions at his home.
Jack Graham, 25, was given a six-month sentence on Tuesday after being convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to one of them and failing to ensure the needs of the others were met.
Graham, with an address at Queens Drive in Newtownabbey, was also banned from keeping any animals for 15 years. Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard checks were first carried out in December 2022 amid concerns about dogs at the property.
Read more here.
Laganside Courts in Belfast (Image: Liam McBurney/PA Wire)
Man convicted of rape in two jurisdictions jailed
A man who raped his partner and threatened to burn her house down was handed a prison sentence of eight years and nine months on Tuesday.
Judge Mark Reel told the 52-year-old Polish national, who can’t be named to protect his victim’s identity, that he can apply for parole half way through his sentence.
However, if the Parole Commissioners believe he remains a danger to the public, he will serve out the sentence in full and then be released on supervised licence for a period of three years.
The extended custodial sentence was imposed as Judge Reel found the defendant to be a danger to the public in the future as he had now been convicted of two rapes in two separate jurisdictions.
Read more here.
Convicted double murderer Hazel Stewart(Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire)
Hazel Stewart refused early release bid
On Wednesday, double murderer Hazel Stewart was refused leave to appeal against the length of her sentence for killing her policeman husband and the wife of her ex-lover.
A panel of judges at the Court of Appeal in Belfast ruled that the sentence imposed on Stewart, 62, a former Sunday school teacher, was “neither wrong nor manifestly excessive”.
Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan told the court that Stewart’s latest attempted appeal would have caused “stress and upset” to the families of those she killed.
She is serving a minimum 18 years behind bars for the killing of Constable Trevor Buchanan, 32, and 31-year-old Lesley Howell, the wife of her former lover Colin Howell.
Both were found in a fume-filled garage in Castlerock, Co Derry, in May 1991.
Read more here.
A couple have been sentenced after transporting 27kg of cannabis into Belfast
Couple sentenced after smuggling £200K of cannabis into Belfast airport
Two foreign nationals have been sentenced after flying into a Belfast airport with almost 27kg of cannabis.
National Crime Agency officers started an investigation into Jason Chah Kok Siong, 27, and Ho Wen Feng, 25, from Malaysia, after they arrived at Belfast International Airport from Malaga on December 13, 2024.
While unloading baggage from the plane, ground crew noticed a strong smell of cannabis from a silver coloured suitcase and alerted airport police and Border Force officers. The bag was released to the carousel to identify who would collect it and Siong and Feng were observed removing the bag and attempting to leave the airport.
They appeared at Antrim Crown Court on Wednesday where they were sentenced to 14 months – seven months custody and seven months on licence. They will also be deported from the UK.
Read more here.
Ryan McNab
Family describe “terrible nightmare” as man jailed for killing Ryan McNab
A North Belfast man who killed a man by strangulation in self-defence after he was struck to the head with a bottle was handed a three year sentence this week.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice O’Hara told Marc Doak on Thursday that he will spend 18 months in custody followed by the remainder on supervised licence on his release from prison. Doak, 27, of Shore Road, previously pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Bangor man Ryan McNab.
He had been due to stand trial for the murder of the 31-year-old but his guilty plea to manslaughter in March this year was accepted by the Public Prosecution Service. It was the prosecution case that the unlawful killing took place on Friday, October 21, 2022, in a flat at Barna Square, Rathcoole in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim.
Read more here.
Matthew Brogan(Image: PSNI)
Man who took part in Belfast race riots “out of boredom” jailed
A 29-year old man who took part in a racially motivated riot in Belfast last summer “out of boredom” was jailed for 20 months on Thursday.
Matthew Brogan, from Drumbeg South in Craigavon, will spend an additional 20 months on licence when he is released from custody.
As well as throwing masonry at police officers, Brogan also assisted in the movement of a car which was set on fire during the disorder in the south of the city.
Belfast Crown Court heard that last summer, some areas of the United Kingdom experienced public disorder with racial undertones.
Judge Patrick Lynch KC said: “There were a number of days in August that Belfast bore the brunt and experienced mass civil unrest. Police were attacked and injured and businesses were burned.”
Read more here.
Stephen McCourt(Image: PSNI)
Man who murdered and dismembered victim gets minimum 24 years
A Co Tyrone man convicted of murdering a man whose dismembered remains were recovered from a reservoir was handed a minimum prison sentence of 24 years on Friday.
Stephen McCourt, 41, from Riverview in Augher showed no emotion as Mr Justice Fowler imposed the Tariff at Belfast Crown Court. Cookstown man Damien Heagney was last seen alive at the end of December 2021.
The 45-year old was reported missing in July 2022 and following a diving expedition the following month, his partially dismembered remains were recovered from the Cappagh reservoir in Co Tyrone.
Read more here.
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