A man accused of murdering Odhrán Kelly in Lurgan last December has been refused bail for a second time.
Shane Harte, 32, from Headington House in Lurgan, denies murdering Mr Kelly in the early hours of December 3, 2023.
As part of the police investigation, Harte was arrested on suspicion of murder on December 6, 2023. He was initially sought as a witness, but as the investigation progressed, he became a suspect. He was interviewed a total of nine times.
Harte provided police with an account, which involved him being at Flat 128, which belonged to co-accused Gary Scullion, on two occasions in the early hours of Sunday, December 3.
During interview, Harte was shown CCTV covering the front and rear access to the block of flats housing flats, 128, and 124.
He confirmed the CCTV at 12.08am on December 3, showed him arriving on the first occasion and leaving again at 12.29am. The defendant told police he arrived at Scullion’s flat for a second time at 1.44am and left again at 3.23am.
He remained within the flat for a total of one hour and 37 minutes.
Harte claimed, in police interviews, that he stood the whole time chatting to Scullion, who was the owner of the flat, maintaining that he did not see Mr Kelly in the flat for the one hour and 37 minutes he was present.
He also claimed that he did not see any attack on the victim and did not play any part in the murder.
CCTV evidence showed that Mr Kelly arrived at Mr Scullion’s flat, alone at 1.13am, and is not seen alive on CCTV again.
At 4.11am, CCTV shows, the detective says, “what appears to be a body being carried by three persons from the block of flats, and police would say this is Odhrán and the three people carrying are all co-accused of Shane Harte”.
It’s 32 minutes after Mr Kelly entered the flats, Harte – wearing a puffer style jacket – follows.
The detective tells the court: “There were witnesses from the first occasion described Shane Harte wearing a red Puffa style jacket. He was using a mobile phone, which he claimed initially, he went back to the flat to look for, and his partner later provided police with a statement to say that that’s why Shane Harte had returned to the flat on the second occasion.
“There’s telecom evidence that shows that Shane Harte phoned Gary Scullion at 1.45am and we believe that was to gain access into the flat.
“…the next time of relevance is 3.05am when Andrea Stevenson, who’s another co-accused, calls the mother of Gary Scullion, where she’s reported a disturbance, that she could hear coming from Flat 128.
“At 3.10am, Andrea calls Scullion on four occasions. Again, this is in relation to the disturbance that was heard.”
At 3.21am Harte leaves the block of flats alone wearing the same clothing as before. The CCTV shows a Puffa style jacket.
Added the detective: “Shane Harte’s initial account stated that he went to the flat of Gary Scullion on the second occasion to look for his mobile phone. This is what he maintained in his interview, until he was shown the CCTV, which showed him outside the block of flats with his mobile phone.
“At that point, Shane changed his version of why he went to Gary Scullion’s flat on the second occasion, and he said that it was now to pay off a drugs debt, saying that he owed Gary Scullion £250. Police have the phone data, which shows telephone contact between Shane Harte’s phone and Gary’s Scullion’s phone, and in interview, Shane Harte maintained that he could not remember any of these calls, but he may have called Gary to check that he got to bed okay.”
The court heard how Harte told police he put the coat in the wash and does not know its current location.
On the morning of December 4, Harte left Lurgan to go to Galway, booking a hotel on Booking.com en-route.
He told police this was a pre-arranged trip, and on the way to Galway, “he made several purchases of clothing and footwear, which we would say they have been to replace the clothing he was wearing on the early hours of December 3”.
At the hotel in Galway, the detective says “CCTV shows Shane Harte signing his name on the hotel registration page and then crossing his name out and replacing that with the name of an associate of his from Lurgan.”
Harte was charged with murder on December 9 – six days after the killing.
The detective, objecting to bail, said: “The death inflicted on Mr Kelly was extremely violent with weapons being used to cause fatal injuries.
“The manner of his death shows the complete disregard shown for Odhrán’s life. The circumstances of this case would show that Shane Harte is a dangerous individual, and he would present a real risk to the community, and likely to commit further offences, if he was to be released from custody.”
However, Harte’s defence countered that his client was not forensically linked to any of the weapons found at a nearby property and that all clothes, that were tested, returned negative results for blood given the “horrific” nature of the killing.
The defence ask the detective to confirm that Harte left prior to the removal of the body from the flat, to which she agreed.
He continued: “This defendant was initially a witness for good reason. There’s absolutely no evidence of him being involved in a serious, horrific assault on the deceased, no evidence whatsoever; no witness saying that he was using a weapon, he was fighting with the person, nothing whatsoever.”
“Yes, lies have been told and we accept lies have been told, but lies are not evidence of guilt…defendants lie for all sorts of reasons, and in a situation where an horrific murder has happened – and he is at that address – maybe the jury would look at that in a different way, and in a way that, well, yes, I can say it was disgraceful that he lied about a phone, but I can understand the sense of panic that somebody has been horrifically murdered in a place that he was at.”
Addressing Harte’s absconding, the defence said that he went to Galway in “some elaborate attempt to veer justice that doesn’t add up”, arguing “he went to Galway with his girlfriend and returned”, and that he didn’t shy away from the investigation.
Turning to the CCTV evidence, the defence contended “that actually provides exculpatory evidence in favour of the defendant because he was not carrying out the body of the deceased….he had left that flat, that’s a significant piece of evidence in his favour”.
The defence also argued that a co-defendant, linked to carrying the body from the flat, has been released on bail and that his client should be granted the same parity.
However, District Judge Francis Rafferty refused bail due to a risk of further offending and “that is based upon your criminal record, the seriousness of this offence, the change of the account, and indeed, the breach of the suspended sentence within your record”.
Judge Rafferty also cited the fact Harte left the jurisdiction shortly after the murder.
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