ONE man has been sentenced to life and three others jailed following the ‘torture’ and murder of Joseph McKeever in Liverpool in June 2017.
Mr McKeever’s body was found in a burned out car on June 15, having been subjected to “extreme torture” in the hours before his death.
Jamie Grimes, 22, of Breckside Park, Anfield, was today sentenced to life for Mr McKeever’s murder and must serve a minimum of 27 years.
He was also jailed for nine years for false imprisonment, to be served concurrently.
Darren Colecozy, 23, of no fixed address, and Karl Kelly, 31, of Snaefell Avenue, Old Swan were both sentenced to 22 years in prison for manslaughter and 12 years in prison for false imprisonment, to be served concurrently.
Dylan Owen, 22, of Paul McCartney Way, Kensington, was jailed for six years for assisting an offender.
During the trial, the jury heard evidence that Mr McKeever, 54, was killed because he was wrongly suspected of cheating his associates out of a shipment of drugs from Spain which had been seized by the authorities.
The court was told Mr McKeever was subjected to a four-hour assault in a storage container at Mr Grimes' place of work on the evening of June 14, 2017.
He was then taken to a flat rented by Colecozy where further assaults took place over the course of the night, during which Mr McKeever died.
Rachael Barber, from the Crown Prosecution Service, told the trial: “The evidence revealed that Mr McKeever had been subject to extreme torture before he died.”
Welcoming the sentences Detective Chief Inspector John Middleton said: “This was a horrific killing that rightly shocked the local community.
“We know that Mr McKeever suffered a sustained and brutal attack and the post mortem revealed that he suffered significant head trauma, broken bones and strangulation prior to the car he was in being set on fire.
“Bringing the men responsible for his death to justice has taken a considerable amount of time and effort by a team of dedicated officers and I would like to thank them, and the Crown Prosecution Service, for bringing this case to a successful conclusion.
“We know that no sentence, however long, will bring back Mr McKeever, but we hope that today’s sentencing will bring a sense of closure to his family, friends and those who knew him and help them to move on with their lives.”
See More: Liverpool, Murder
