Lyra McKee: Two men facing court charged with journalist’s murder

The pair are to appear by video link before Londonderry Magistrates’ Court on Friday
Lyra McKee
AFP/Getty Images

Two men have been charged with the murder of Belfast journalist Lyra McKee

The 29-year-old was shot dead by dissident republicans in Londonderry in April 2019 as she observed rioting in the Creggan area of the city.

The extremist group that styles itself the New IRA was responsible for the killing.

The two men who have been charged with her murder are aged 21 and 33 years.

They have also been charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life, riot, possession of petrol bombs, throwing petrol bombs and arson.  The 33-year-old has additionally been charged with robbery.

A third man, aged 20, has been charged with riot, possession of petrol bombs and throwing petrol bombs.

All three are expected to appear before Londonderry Magistrates Court via video link on Friday morning.

A 19-year-old man also arrested during the same operation has been released pending a report to the Public Prosecution Service.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis welcomed the development.

“The tragic murder of Lyra McKee was a reminder that a small minority of individuals continue to seek to cause harm to communities,” he said.

“This was an utterly senseless and shocking crime and I applaud the continued work of the PSNI to bring those responsible to justice.

“The fact that serious charges have been brought forward, which includes two individuals being charged with Lyra’s murder, is to be strongly welcomed and is testimony to that hard work.

“I would like to thanks the PSNI and security partners for their dedication to keeping the people of Northern Ireland safe.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in