Jason Lee Martin's killer given 11-and-a-half year minimum term

Jason Lee Martin, 31, died after he was stabbed at a house in Ballymena

A 19-year-old man has been told he must serve at least 11-and-a-half years of a life sentence for murdering Jason Lee Martin in Ballymena in 2020.

Jordan Bradley Jake McClintock was given the life sentence in December after admitting the killing.

At a minimum tariff hearing on Wednesday, the judge said it was an "unprovoked and despicable" murder.

McClintock attacked Mr Martin during a social gathering in Orkney Drive in Ballykeel on 27 June.

The murder trial began in 2021 after Crown prosecutors rejected an admission of manslaughter by McClintock on grounds of diminished responsibility.

He denied murder but changed his plea after several days of evidence.

The trial heard that McClintock made threats to people at the gathering and engaged Mr Martin, 31, in a conversation about paramilitaries.

Prosecutors said McClintock, of Orkney Drive in Ballykeel, talked of the "need to gain respect", to which Mr Martin responded that paramilitarism was not glamorous and that "respect had to be earned".

The murder happened in the living room of a house in Orkney Drive

The court heard McClintock then approached Mr Martin in the living room of the property, stabbing him several times.

This included a fatal wound to the right thigh, before McClintock walked away from the scene as others tried to save the victim.

Before the minimum tariff was passed at Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday, a prosecution barrister argued McClintock should receive a higher tariff, explaining that the victim was among friends and the attack was unprovoked.

Defence barrister Barra McGrory QC argued for a lower tariff, arguing the defendant was 18 at the time and had expressed remorse to Mr Martin's family.

He added that McClintock had a troubled childhood and experienced both alcohol dependency and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

'A family left bereft'

The judge said Mr Martin "didn't have a bad bone in his body" and that "no-one had a bad word to say about him".

He said he hoped the sentence would act to "deter other young men from engaging in knife crime".

"The tragic consequences of events such as these, where young men resort to the use of knives to pursue some agenda or to settle an argument, are all too common," he added.

The judge said when McClintock was eventually released he would be subject to licence conditions and could be recalled to custody if they were breached.

After sentencing, Det Insp Gina Quinn said she hoped the tariff would send "a very clear message to anyone who thinks they can get away with such atrocity".

"The attack, which was without motive, has taken a man's life. It's left a family bereft, and it's left two young sons without their father," she said.

"There are, unfortunately, no words that can help to ease their heartbreak or undo this tragic event."