John Paul McDonagh murder: Joseph Joyce convicted over death

Image caption,

John Paul McDonagh was killed during a street fight in Enniskillen in April 2020

A 32-year-old man has been found guilty of murdering 18-year-old John Paul McDonagh in County Fermanagh.

Joseph Joyce from Clon Elagh, Londonderry, has been found guilty of five charges.

Mr McDonagh sustained a fatal leg wound during a street fight in the Coolcullen Meadow area of Enniskillen in April 2020.

It took a jury just over three hours of deliberations on Monday before they returned a unanimous guilty verdict.

In a trial that spanned three weeks, a jury of eight men and four women was shown CCTV footage that captured the fatal wound being inflicted on Mr McDonagh.

In the CCTV footage, Joyce could be seen standing on the street, outside the house in which he was living at that time.

Holding a slash-hook in one hand and plastic bottle filled with ammonia in the other, the footage captured Joyce engaging in what the Crown described as a “street battle” against brothers Gerard, John and Jimmy McDonagh.

The footage also captured Joyce administering the fatal blow to the back of Mr McDonagh’s left leg.

Despite receiving medical treatment both at the scene and in the South West Acute Hospital, Mr McDonagh passed away on 13 April 2020.

Since his arrest following the death Mr McDonagh, Joyce made the case he was acting in self-defence and was protecting himself, his family and his home from an attack by the three brothers, who were armed with a knife, bottle and garden spade.

However, the jury rejected Joyce’s claims of self-defence and found him guilty of murdering Mr McDonagh.

The father-of-three was also found unanimously guilty of wounding Gerard McDonagh during the same incident, possessing two weapons, namely the slash hook and bottle of ammonia, and a charge of causing an affray.

At Dungannon Crown Court sitting in Belfast, Mr Justice Rooney handed Joyce a mandatory life sentence.

The minimum time he will spend in prison will be set at a later date.