Ian Ogle’s family have expressed their relief at the end of a “long and difficult process” after three men were found guilty of his murder in Belfast.

They also called for a “serious look” at the justice system in Northern Ireland and described as “unfair” how long victims have to wait for a trial in the region compared to the rest of the UK.

Mr Ogle was 45 when he was beaten and stabbed 11 times just meters from his home in Cluan Place, east of the city, in January 2019.

Delivering his verdict in the non-jury trial, Mr Justice McFarland said he was satisfied that Glenn Rainey, 38, of Ballyhalbert Caravan Park, Walter Ervine, 43, of Litchfield Street in Belfast, and Robert Spiers, 41, of Millars Park in Dundonald. , were part of a group of five men who carried out the attack.

The judge told the three men that the only sentence he could hand down was life imprisonment.

There were cheers from the Ogle family when the verdict was announced at Belfast Crown Court on Friday.

The three defendants showed no emotion as the verdicts were read.

Two men he had previously admitted to killing Mr. Ogle.

Jonathan Brown, 39, of Whinney Hill in Dundonald, and Mark Sewell, 45, of Glenmount Drive in Newtownabbey, were jailed for life earlier this year.

In making his ruling, the judge said there was an “ongoing dispute” between two factions in east Belfast after some of the defendants were involved in an incident in a bar with Mr Ogle’s son in 2017.

On the evening Mr Ogle was attacked, he and his son had been involved in an attack on another man in Beersbridge Road.

The judge said this was a precipitating factor in the fatal attack that night.

CCTV footage showed Mr Ogle was the victim of a 30-second attack, the judge said.

Witnesses said Mr Ogle was attacked with a club and a knife and his head was hit.

A local pastor, Kevin Sambrook, who spoke to Mr Ogle before the attack and gave evidence during the trial, described the group as behaving “like a pack of hyenas”, the judge said.

Mr Ogle died from a stab wound to the chest and also suffered extensive bruising and a fractured skull.

Mr Justice McFarland said: “This is the classic joint venture case.

“The man who used the knife may bear direct responsibility for the death, but it is clear beyond doubt that each of the five men was involved in the attack on Ian Ogle and each intended to cause him at least very serious bodily harm. “

He added that the case against the three defendants is circumstantial and the prosecution case was made up of a number of components.

Considering the evidence, the judge said a strong inference could be drawn from the mobile phone activity between the defendants on the night of the murder.

He said: “The overwhelming inference that can be drawn from the telephone evidence is that Brown, Sewell, Rainey, Ervine and Spiers made up the group that killed Ian Ogle.”

Mr Justice McFarland also said the fact that two of the defendants left Northern Ireland the day after the murder – Rainey flew to Thailand via Moscow and Ervine sailed to Scotland – was strong evidence against them.

The judge said police recovered an Ernesto knife and an extendable walking stick from the Connswater River two weeks after the murder.

He said a search of Spiers’ home revealed an Ernesto knife missing from a set.

The judge also said Spiers lied to police about not having a cell phone.

Mr Justice McFarland said he also drew an inference from the fact that none of the three defendants had given evidence at trial to answer the evidence against them.

The judge concluded: “I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Rainey, Ervine and Spiers were part of the group, the others being Brown and Sewell, who killed Ian Ogle at Cluan Place.”

Addressing the defendants, he said: “The only sentence I can pass is life in prison and I’m passing it now.”

The judge said a tariff hearing to determine the minimum time each would spend in prison would be held in July.

Before the three were led off the dock, Spiers kissed someone in the public gallery.

There were emotional scenes outside the court as Mr Ogle’s family gathered to say the Lord’s Prayer.

Mr Ogle’s daughter Toni Johnston thanked everyone who had supported the family since her father’s murder in 2019, the detectives involved in the investigation and the judge for the successful conclusion of the case, describing it as a “difficult process”.

“As anyone who attended the trial and heard the facts and the evidence will know, it was a very complex one,” she said.

“It took almost six years to get to this point and this was a particularly difficult experience.

“The justice system in Northern Ireland is in need of serious change, particularly when a crime of this gravity has been committed.

“We believe it is unfair that victims and witnesses in Northern Ireland have to wait so long to go through this process and see justice done.

“I also want to point out that after waiting so long for a trial to happen, it took another 10 months for it to be completed.

“Meanwhile, those charged with murder and accessory after the fact were living in our community yards from where the crime took place.

“They were also a few meters away from the family of the victim of the crime.

“The length of the wait has placed unavoidable pressures on those directly involved in the process and had a damaging effect on the wider community.

“In Northern Ireland, I think we should have some serious conversations about why our trial process is taking so much longer than in the rest of the UK.”