Overview
- A judge at Belfast Crown Court found Paul McIntyre, Peter Cavanagh and Jordan Gareth Devine not guilty on Friday after a non‑jury trial that lasted intermittently for more than two years.
- Mrs Justice Smyth said the prosecution's case relied largely on circumstantial evidence and that the gunman who fired the fatal shot has never been brought before the court.
- The trial used CCTV and documentary footage, mobile‑phone analysis and forensic material and prosecutors noted the murder weapon was recovered in June 2020, but the judge ruled this evidence did not prove joint enterprise.
- McKee's family said they will keep seeking justice and criticised a 'culture of silence', while press unions and rights groups demanded police and prosecutors continue to pursue those responsible for the killing.
- The killing was claimed by the New IRA in 2019 and has long fed concern about dissident republican violence in Northern Ireland, a concern that is likely to shape policing, public debate and efforts to protect journalists going forward.