Antrim Crown Court judge Mr Justice McLaughlin warned 26-year-old Desmond Heaney, who has 150 criminal convictions over a 24-page criminal record, it will be a "very long number of years before you are released".

"I'm satisfied that realising there was a fight, and not a fight with weapons but with fists and maybe boots," said the judge, "you went to the kitchen and armed yourself with a knife" before stabbing 40-year-old Paddy Fleming.


It was two years ago, on May 14 2006 during the NW200 races that Heaney, from Dunclug Park in Ballymena, was at a party in The Heights area of Coleraine where he stabbed Paddy Fleming five times.


Outside the court, Mr Fleming's sister Theresa Hanson said the family were "very happy" with the outcome, felt "that justice has been done for Paddy" and hoped that Heaney "rots in jail".


She said the media descriptions of her murdered brother were "outrageous" and declared: "Paddy was a horse dealer and was in his life, never convicted of of any drugs offence."

Sentenced to a six month jail term suspended for two years was 29-year-old Kevin Brendan Gilmore from Alderbrook Gardens in Coleraine, who pleaded guilty to withholding information about the killing.

The police and Mrs Fleming have also released statements about the murder sentence.

For the full story of the dramatic sentencing read the next weeks Coleraine Times.