FIVE people who gave false information to police in the wake of the murder of Comber man Phillip Strickland were yesterday handed suspended sentences.
Melissa Dickson (22), from Derryboye Road in Killinchy, John Lawlor (44), from Lysander Park in Newtownards, Stacey McCaughey (23), from Blenheim Drive in Newtownards, and North Lucas (46), from Ballycreely Road in Comber, all admitted perverting the course of justice at Belfast Crown Court.
Lesley Weir (22) from Lisbane Drive in Newtownards pleaded guilty to withholding information.
Phillip Strickland, a 36-year-old farm labourer, was shot dead on the outskirts of Comber on January 11 2012.
Sentencing all five to 18 months in prison, which was suspended for two years, Mr Justice Weir told them: "This was a loathsome crime and you have all, in one way or another, played your part in attempting to conceal it for a period."
Lesley Weir - whose father Jimmy Seales and brothers Jason and Ian Weir are due to be sentenced next week for murdering Mr Strickland along with co-accused Stephen McCaughey - admitted withholding information from police.
She initially failed to tell police that her brother Ian left the house on the evening of the murder and called her later that night requesting she bring him a change of clothes.
Weir's barrister said his client, then aged 19, was "motivated by family and sibling loyalty" and that she withheld information "for a very short period of time."
Melissa Dickson provided a false statement to police on January 15 2012 claiming that Ian Weir had not left Derryboye Road in Killinchy during the evening of January 11 2012.
She subsequently admitted lying about Ian not leaving the house and also revealed she was present when her friend Lesley Weir received a call from Ian requesting a change of clothes.
Stacey McCaughey also initially told police that Ian Weir had been in her company at the time of the murder but several days later she admitted that Ian had told her not to say anything about leaving the house.
John Lawlor - who at the time was in a relationship with McCaughey's mother - initially claimed Stephen McCaughey was in his house on the evening of the murder.
Lawlor later admitted McCaughey left his house at around 8pm and returned around 11pm wearing different clothing.
North Lucas told police that Ian and Jason Weir had been at his yard on the afternoon of January 11 2012, that they were in and around a blue Citroen Saxo, that another man was standing by the car and that he heard raised voices in the yard but didn't see the other person.
He also claimed he may have seen Mr Strickland driving the Citroen on two previous occasions.
However the court heard the deceased only purchased the vehicle the day before he was killed.
Lucas later admitted perverting the course of justice, saying he acted out of fear for himself and his family.
Before passing sentence, Mr Justice Weir told the accused: "These are serious matters which require an immediate custodial sentence. However, there are extenuating circumstances in this particular case."
* 'LOATHSOME CRIME': Clockwise from above, murderer Jimmy Seales; Melissa Dickson and Seales's daughter Lesley Weir; North Lucas; and murder victim Philip Strickland