Pat McCormick’s daughter has told how her father “will never get to see any of us grow up, or get married”.
Morgan McCormick made the emotional statement on Thursday after a man was jailed for the father-of-four’s murder.
As her family and Detective Inspector Jennifer Rea looked on, she said: “We, as a family, are relieved to have reached this stage; and we remain forever grateful to the Police Service, and to the Courts.
“While no amount of jail time will ever bring our dad back, it’s the start of justice for me and my brothers and sister, my mum and my dad’s family and friends.
“We’ve been stripped of our father. My dad will never get to see any of us grow up, or get married. He’ll never get to hold his future grandkids.
“We leave here today with only memories of our dad, who has been taken from us. However, those memories are filled with love and happiness, and they’re memories that we’ll hold on to forever.”
Both the PSNI and PPS welcomed today’s sentencing of five people on charges arising from the murder of Pat McCormick and its aftermath.
Detective Inspector Jennifer Rea revealed that when Mr McCormick was reporting missing on June 1, 2019 police initially launched a missing person inquiry.
The senior officer said: “Six weeks later and after an ongoing investigation and extensive searches, divers recovered Pat’s body from a flooded quarry, previously used as a fishing lake, in Ballygowan.
“A post mortem examination revealed the cause of death to be multiple rib fractures due to blunt force trauma. 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. And, of course, their sadness doesn’t end today. It’s over four years on now, and their heartache understandably remains.”
DI Rea added: “David Gill and Lesley Ann Dodds had initially denied any involvement in Pat’s disappearance and murder. 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. And I’m keen to thank members of the public, particularly the local community in Comber and nearby areas, for their invaluable support to our investigation.”
Also welcoming today’s sentencing was PPS Senior Public Prosecutor Keith Harbinson who said: “This was a brutal and callous attack against a defenceless man that shocked the community. It has left Mr McCormick’s family, including his four children, grieving.
“The team from the PPS’s Serious Crime Unit worked closely with the Police Service of Northern Ireland from an early stage of their investigation into Mr McCormick’s disappearance and murder to bring a robust prosecution case including forensic, CCTV and witness evidence, and phone records.
“This resulted in the guilty pleas, sparing Mr McCormick’s family the ordeal of a trial. No outcome can change the loss Mr McCormick’s family have suffered. However, we hope that the conclusion of these proceedings gives them some measure of comfort.”
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