THREE cousins have been jailed over the murder of a father-of-two, who was shot dead at home while his nine-year-old son was in the house.
Michael Smith, 40, and David Smith, 35, both from West Belfast, were found guilty of the murder of 28-year-old Stephen Carson.
They were today sentenced at Laganside Crown Court to 20 years in prison.
Francis Smith, 42, also from West Belfast, was found guilty of possessing a shotgun and ammunition in suspicious circumstances and assisting his cousins by allowing them to store the murder weapon in his property.
(Image: PSNI)He was sentenced to seven years and six months, with half of his sentence to be served on licence.
Child pepper sprayed
Mr Carson was at his home in Walmer Street, Belfast with his fiancée and nine-year-old son when he was murdered on February 25, 2016.
Three men burst into the house wielding a hammer and shotgun before spraying the child and Mr Carson’s fiancée with a pepper-type spray.
Mr Carson was in the kitchen and ran to the bathroom to phone the police.
Ammunition and the hole in the bathroom door caused by the fatal shot (Images: PSNI)However one of the men, believed by the PSNI to be Michael Smith, fired a fatal shot through the door, hitting Stephen in the head.
Traumatised
“This was a premeditated murder with the perpetrators leaving no forensic evidence yet these men were still put before the courts as a result of the complex, multi-faceted police investigation carried out by detectives,” said PSNI Detective Chief Inspector Pete McKenna.
“I would also like to pay tribute to Stephen’s family for their dignity, courage and unwavering commitment to seeing justice done for their loved one.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe in their home and Stephen’s murder was brutal and cold-blooded, carried out by extremely dangerous men who appear to show no remorse for their actions.
“Stephen’s son and fiancée have been left extremely traumatised by the incident and their lives will never be the same again.
“Whilst no sentence can ever take away the pain for Stephen’s family, I hope they get some comfort from knowing that his killers are behind bars.
“The community is now a safer place with these men removed from our streets.”
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