Shotgun killer Connor McNeill given minimum 15-year jail term

Stephen Barriskill was found dead in his home after being shot twice in the chest in October 2021

A man who shot his neighbour twice in the chest with a shotgun will serve at least 15-and-a-half years in prison.

Connor Lawrence McNeill, of Whitesides Hill in Portadown, had previously admitted murder and possessing a shotgun and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

The body of his victim, Stephen Barriskill, was found in a house in Portadown in October 2021.

The prosecution described the killing as an execution.

Belfast Crown Court was told McNeill and Mr Barriskill had been close but had fallen out.

McNeill claimed he had received threats from the victim after a disagreement about how Mr Barriskill's late father had been cared for.

The court heard McNeill believed the victim to be "controlling and intimidating" and involved with dog fighting and drugs.

He said Mr Barriskill had told him he was "a marked man" and he believed he had paramilitary connections.

The court was told police said the victim had no known links to paramilitaries or organised crime gangs.

McNeill told police he had planned to fire a warning shot to scare Mr Barriskill but after entering his home with his legally-held shotgun, found him sleeping in bed.

He said he told the victim the "threats and intimidation" had to stop and that Mr Barriskill had told McNeill to shoot him or else he would send "some boys" down to kill McNeill's family.

He said the victim grabbed the gun and that it discharged, and that the recoil caused another shot to be fired.

'Something flipped'

It was heard the prosecution did not accept that it was an accidental shooting, adding that it "bore all the hallmarks of an execution".

The court heard either shot would have caused "instantaneous death".

Judge Smyth said only McNeill's version of events was available.

After the shooting McNeill went home and told his wife what he had done but she did not believe him.

The next morning he was taken to a police station where, during an interview, he said: "Something flipped in my head".

The court was told McNeill destroyed his phone after the shooting and that no threatening messages were found on the victim's phone.

'Cocaine and emotional arousal'

The court was told that the victim's brothers had expressed "grief and bewilderment".

It was heard that generations of the family had lived in the home where Mr Barriskill was killed, and it had been hoped many more would, but following the shooting "that now seems impossible".

The court was told the victim's son had not yet recovered from his grandfather's death when his father was killed.

The judge said the victim's former wife was also thinking of McNeill's family and what they were going through.

A psychiatric report found McNeill had been influenced by "cocaine and extreme emotional arousal" at the time of the shooting.

The judge said the victim had been in "no position to defend himself" as he was sleeping when McNeill entered his house.

She sentenced McNeill to a minimum of 15-and-a-half years in prison before he is considered for parole.

She handed down a nine-year sentence for the weapons charge, to be served concurrently.