SHOT IN BED | 

Three men ordered to stand trial over ‘brutal execution’ of drug dealer Liam Christie

Father-of-three Christie was shot eight times at close range as he lay asleep in bed

Paul Higgins

Today at 13:01

Three Co. Antrim men were today ordered to stand trial accused of the “brutal execution” of Liam Christie.

Standing side by side in the dock of Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, the three accused confirmed they were aware of the charges against them and also that they had received legal papers in the case.

The three men, 45-year-old Jonathan Patterson, Paul Armstrong (44) and 59-year-old Henry Charles Hayles are all jointly charged with the murder of Mr Christie on 20 October 2022.

While Antrim men Patterson, from Whinburn Close and Armstrong, from Hawkswood Terrace, are accused of having two firearms, namely two 9mm handguns, with intent to endanger life on the same date Hayles, from Kansas Avenue in Belfast, is accused of having those guns with the same intent between 18-22 October 2022.

Father-of-three Mr Christie, 43, was shot eight times at close range as he lay asleep in bed in his home in the Craighill area of Antrim in a murder described as a “brutal execution.”

The court has previously heard that Mr Christie was shot with two different guns, twice to the head, twice in the chest, once in the face and “one under his jaw at close range where the firearm had been pushed against his jaw.”

Examinations at the Whinburn Close home of Patterson have allegedly uncovered forensic evidence and particles on the sofa, the utility room, towels and fleece throws which suggested, according to DS Adair, the property was used “before, during and after the clean up after the murder” of Liam Christie.

According to the police case Patterson and Armstrong, were captured on CCTV walking from Patterson’s home, heading towards the victim’s house at around 02.30 when a local resident heard “loud bangs, like fireworks.”

The ambulance service had contacted police around 9am after the victim was found “lying in a pool of his own blood” and when police arrived, they noted a number of shell casings in the floor.

An officer said that according to local residents, the front door of the property was “routinely left unlocked and police noted there was no sign of forced entry,” adding that enquiries had uncovered CCTV of the area which police believe show the two alleged killers on their way to Mr Christie’s home with Patterson carrying a “glistening, cylindrical item” cops say is a gun but which the defence contend is a bottle of gin.

As Hayles had been on police bail before being charged on foot of an indictable summons, the court has not yet heard what the prosecution claim is his involvement

In court today, a prosecuting lawyer submitted the legal papers and statements founded as Prima facie case against each of the defendants which was conceded by their barristers.

The court clerk told the alleged killers that although not obliged to, they had the right to comment on the charges and to call evidence on their own behalves but all three declined to exercise those rights.

Returning the case to Belfast Crown Court with the arraignment scheduled to be heard on 23 February and extending legal aid to allow senior barristers to be instructed, District Judge Nigel Broderick freed the trio on continuing bail with the same package of bail conditions.