Jennifer Dornan: Raymond O'Neill found guilty of 2015 murder

Jennifer Dornan was found in her burnt-out home in August 2015

A Belfast man has been found guilty of the murder of Jennifer Dornan in August 2015.

Raymond Martin Gabriel O'Neill, 43, previously of Amcomri Street in Belfast, had denied murdering the 30-year-old mother-of-three and then setting fire to her house.

But a jury unanimously convicted him of murder and arson.

Members of Jennifer Dornan's family clapped and cheered in court as the verdicts were announced.

O'Neill will serve an automatic life sentence. The minimum amount of time he must serve in prison before being considered for parole will be handed down at a later date.

No memory claims

Ms Dornan was found in her burnt-out home in Lagmore, west Belfast, in August 2015.

She had been stabbed three times in the chest with a knife from her own kitchen.

One of the blows had entered her heart.

Broken-hearted family left to pick up the pieces

Until the trial started in February, the legal process had faced one setback after another.

The family waited for the truth to come out.

They waited for this day.

But they're still left to pick up the pieces of O'Neill's actions and raise Jennifer's children.

But if there is one thing they are adamant about, it's that they will keep her memory alive.

"She was the best mum, sister, daughter and friend and our hearts will always be broken," said Jennifer's sister Claire.

Read more here.

During the eight-week trial, the court was told by O'Neill that he had no memory of the night she was killed due to a stroke in October 2016.

O'Neill claimed the stroke was caused by him being poisoned by prison staff in Dublin, who he said put methadone in his juice bottle.

He also claimed he had no memory of travelling to County Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland, in the days following Ms Dornan's death and could not remember being arrested in Bundoran.

The court further heard that O'Neill had no memory of being a passenger in a car that picked up Ms Dornan from her home on the Saturday evening and could not remember them both being present at a house in Lagmore Avenue in the early hours of the Sunday.

'I killed someone'

A man had been captured on CCTV climbing Ms Dornan's fence and walking to the rear of her home, about 20 minutes after she returned to the property.

The same man was filmed climbing back over the fence and leaving the area, about an hour later.

During the trial, the former partner of O'Neill's nephew told the court she had overheard him saying: "I killed someone."

She added that she heard O'Neill saying "it was the drink and drugs that made me do it".

On Friday at Belfast Crown Court, a judge said that his only option was to impose a life sentence.

Jennifer Dornan's relatives embraced outside court following the verdict

Following the verdict, the family of Ms Dornan paid tribute to a "devoted mother who loved her children more than anyone in the world".

Her sister Claire told BBC News NI: "She was a kind and caring daughter and a loving sister.

"These past seven years have been an absolute nightmare and incredibly difficult for our family.

"We have been fighting for justice all this time.

"Raymond O'Neill has ruined our lives and taken a mother away from her three children. He has shown no remorse for killing Jennifer.

"We miss her every day and will love her forever."