'Squat murder' man jailed

A man has been imprisoned after admitting to the murder of a man at a squat in Belfast.

Noel McComb, 50, was attacked by Stephen Lee Wright, 28, of Donegall Avenue in Belfast in a squat in Ireton Street then set fire to the flat below it.

Mr McCombe died five months after the attack.

Russell Hector Hunter, 49, of Newtownards Road was also jailed for 10 years after admitting manslaughter.

Belfast Judge Mr Justice Stephens said Wright attacked the victim after he was wrongly accused of being a paedophile. The court also heard Wright, who referred to himself as a street drinking alcoholic, “verbally humiliated” Mr McCombe on Boxing Day 2004 and then “proceeded to extract brutal and merciless vengeance for what you believed Mr McCombe had done.”

He also added his responsibility for the murder was aggravated by the fact that he set fire to the room below the squat where his beaten victim and a woman lay, leaving them “to their fates.”

Wright admitted murder and arson being reckless as to whether Mr McCombe’s life and that of Elaine Hunter would be endanger.

Mr Justice Stephens said Hunter, originally from Scotland, had never explained what happened but joined in the attack on “a vulnerable and helpless individual.”

“Physically assaulting a person who is either literally on the ground or is incapacitated through drink is abhorrent,” he said.

“Severe sentences are also required to mark society’s outright rejection of such behaviour and to reflect the tragedy of a life brought to an end.”

The Judge also said Hunter must serve a further two years of probation.

(JM/SP)