William 'Pat' McCormick was murdered at a flat by a man “twice his size”, Belfast Crown heard
A father-of-four was lured to a flat in Comber then subjected to a fatal beating before his body was placed in bin which was dumped in a lake, a court heard today .
David Gill, 30, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty last May to murdering Mr Gill and was handed a life sentence. His fiancée Lesley Ann Dodds - who in May 2019 was having an affair with her co-worker Mr McCormick - is due to be sentenced for manslaughter. Prior to this, the senior judge was told by Crown barrister David McDowell that Mr McCormick was “just short of ten stone and no physical match for the defendant David Gill who is twice his size”.
They continued to communicate via text and in the middle of this, Dodds tried to call Mr McCormick. In later messages from her Facebook account, a message said she had left Gill and asked Mr McCormick to come to her flat. He asked police if they could attend the address and was told that was not something they could do without an incident being reported. At 10.47pm he was captured on CCTV walking along Castle Street - and as Mr McDowell pointed out “this was the last time he was seen alive by anyone other than his killer”.
He said that on May 30, he and Dodds were at his home and that he got her to ask Mr McCormick to go to her flat. Gill said when Mr McCormick arrived at the flat, he opened the door and Mr McCormick started hitting him. He said a struggle ensued and he got Mr McCormick in a headlock - then Mr McCormick caught hold of his arm which caused him to fall on the older man.
When she was arrested, Dodds confirmed she and Mr McCormick worked together as carers and that she saw their relationship as platonic.
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