A TEENAGE daughter of murder victim Marcell Seeley has told how the killing "had a devastating effect" on her life, as a 26-year-old man was yesterday jailed for at least 16 years.
Mark Daniel Ward from Drumellan Gardens in Craigavon, Co Armagh, who was convicted of murdering father-of-four Marcell Seeley in 2015, was yesterday told he will serve at least 16 years in jail.
Mr Seeley (34), also known as Junior, was kicked and stamped to death on October 11, 2015.
Two days later, his sister discovered his remains in the living room of his Dingwell Park flat, on the Tagnaven estate in Lurgan.
Telling Ward there were "no mitigating factors" in his favour, Mr Justice Treacy told the killer that not only did he "abandon" Mr Seeley after attacking him, but that he also failed to call an ambulance or get assistance.
There was large police presence in the public gallery during yesterday's sitting at Belfast Crown Court, with officers standing between the families of both Mr Seeley and Ward.
Ward was handed a life sentence in June after he was convicted by a jury of murdering Mr Seeley - a man he said he knew for around a decade.
Despite the conviction, Ward continues to deny the charge.
Delivering his sentence, Mr Justice Treacy said "gratuitous and extensive violence" was used in the attack on Mr Seeley.
The judge outlined the many injuries inflicted on the victim, including a wound to the back of his shoulder which the court heard was most likely inflicted as the injured man was lying face down on the floor.
He told Ward will serve a minimum of 16 years in prison, with "no remission", before he is considered to be eligible for release.
In a victim impact statement, one of Mr Seeley's daughters, who was 15 at the time of the killing, said she "never got to say goodbye to him".
"His coffin was closed due to the brutality of his death," she said.
"This has had a devastating effect on my life. For the longest time, I pretended it wasn't true. I'd never seen his body so how could it be?"
She described her father as her "best friend".
"My dad meant everything to me. He made me feel safe and loved," she said.
She added: "My dad was a great father. He loved me truly and I loved him. He will never see me grow up, pass my driving test, graduate university or walk me down the aisle at my wedding."
Mr Seeley's sister Carrai Doran, who found her brother's body, said her "life will never be the same".
"Every time I close my eyes I can see Junior lying on his floor and that’s something that will always be with me," she said.
"Brothers and sisters are meant to grow old together, to help look after their parents, to watch their children grow up together. My life feels as if it has frozen in time and that I had lost nearly two years of my life and my children’s lives thinking about this and the court case.
She added: "I feel as if Mark Ward has changed my life forever and there’s nothing that I can do about it".
After the judge passed sentence, Ward turned to his family in the public gallery and gave a thumbs up sign.
As his family left court, a sibling told a reporter: "Our brother is an innocent man."
Speaking outside the court, Detective Chief Inspector Eamonn Corrigan said footprints found at the scene of the killing had provided the key to Ward's conviction.
The prints were matched to trainers worn by Ward in CCTV footage of him walking towards Mr Seeley's home on the night of the murder.
He had worn the same trainers while in police custody for an unrelated matter a few days after the killing.
While the trainers have never been recovered, the CCTV footage and DNA found on a cigarette butt at the murder scene led to Ward's arrest.
Det Ch Insp Corrigan described the murder as "brutal and callous" and added that Ward had refused to co-operate during 16 police interviews.
"The one place you should feel safe is your own home and that's where Marcell was when Mark Ward brutally killed him," he said.
