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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Tim Hanlon

Thug beat his love rival to death and put body in a wheelie bin at the bottom of a lake

A man battered a love rival to death in a "brutal and sustained assault" then put his body in a wheelie bin and dumped it at the bottom of a lake.

David Gill, 30, of no fixed abode, has been jailed at Belfast Crown Court for the murder of father of four Pat McCormick, 55, in Co Down in 2019.

He was told he must serve at least 16 years in prison before he can be considered for release.

Mr McCormick was lured to a flat in Comber on the evening of May 30, 2019, where he believed he was going to meet Gill's fiancee Lesley Ann Dodds, with whom he had a brief relationship.

Mr McCormick had received messages from Dodds' Facebook account, saying she had left Gill and asking him to come to her flat.

But when Mr McCormick arrived, only Gill was at the flat.

Judge Mr Justice Scoffield said Mr McCormick was the victim of a "brutal and sustained assault".

Mr McCormick's body was discovered six weeks later in a lake in Co Down secured in a bin with straps and weighed down with concrete blocks.

A post-mortem examination showed he had suffered multiple rib fractures.

Dodds, 25, from Queen Victoria Gardens in Belfast, was sentenced to five and a half years after admitting manslaughter, with half to be served in custody.

The judge said he had no doubt she had played her part in luring Mr McCormick to the flat.

Three other men who had admitted withholding information in relation to Mr McCormick's killing, were sentenced.

William Gill, 43, from Terrace View in Waringstown, Andrew Leslie, 24, from Mourne Crescent in Moneyrea and Jonathon Richard Leslie Montgomery, 24, from Castle Espie Road in Comber, were all given suspended sentences.

PSNI Detective Inspector Jennifer Rea said: "Pat was a father of four children. He was a husband, a son, a brother and an uncle.

"Those weeks of waiting, wondering and hoping were a torturous and prolonged nightmare for a loving family. Of course, their sadness doesn't end today. It's over four years on now and their heartache understandably remains."

Ms Rea continued: "David Gill and Lesley Ann Dodds had initially denied any involvement in Pat's disappearance and murder.

David Gill, 30, was jailed at Belfast Crown Court (PA Archive/PA Images)

"The reality is that both played a part in luring Pat to the home of Lesley Ann Dodds.

"However, instead of meeting Ms Dodds as expected, David Gill was lying in wait to carry out this brutal attack.

"Today, thanks to our dedicated team and working in partnership with our colleagues in the Public Prosecution Service, the defendants have been held accountable for their actions. Actions that were planned, cowardly and irreversible.

"My thoughts are first and foremost with Pat's family and loved ones."

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