Extended footage filmed by MTV crew played at Lyra McKee murder trial

By David Young, PA

Extended footage filmed by an MTV crew in Derry on the day journalist Lyra McKee was shot has been played at her murder trial.

Ms McKee, 29, died after being hit by a bullet as she stood close to police vehicles while observing rioting in the Creggan area of Derry on April 18th, 2019.

The New IRA claimed responsibility for the author’s death.

Peter Cavanagh, 35, of Mary Street, Derry; Jordan Gareth Devine, 23, of Bishop Street, Derry; and Paul McIntyre, 56, of Kells Walk, Derry, are on trial at Belfast Crown Court charged with her murder.

After a week-long break in proceedings, the non-jury trial resumed on Thursday.

Most of the day was taken up playing lengthy segments of unedited footage filmed by the MTV crew on the day of the shooting.

Presenter Reggie Yates and the camera crew were making a film about republicans opposed to the Northern Ireland peace process in the period leading up to traditional republican commemorations in the city to mark the 1916 Easter Rising against British rule in Dublin.

Seven other men are on trial on a number of charges, including rioting and throwing petrol bombs.

They are: Joseph Patrick Barr, 36, of Sandringham Drive, Derry; Jude Forest Coffey, 26, of Gartan Square, Derry; William Patrick Elliott, 57, of Ballymagowan Gardens, Derry; Joseph Anthony Campbell, 23, of Gosheden Cottages, Derry; Patrick Anthony Gallagher, 32, of John Field Place, Derry; Christopher Joseph Gillen, 43, of Balbane Pass, Derry; and Kieran George McCool, 55, of Ballymagowan Gardens, Derry.

Several of the defendants in the case were filmed by the MTV crew in the hours prior to the shooting, some of them engaging in lengthy interviews with Yates.

A prosecution barrister has already claimed the rioting that erupted in the Creggan area prior to the murder was orchestrated to “put on a show” for the camera crew.

The trial, which is being heard by Judge Patricia Smyth, continues.