Courts

Teenager Blake Newland fatally stabbed in ‘revenge attack’, court told

Brothers Stephen and Andrew McGlinchey from Limavady jointly charged with 17-year-old’s murder

Det Sgt O’Donnell told the court he believed he could connect brothers Andrew and Stephen McGlinchey to the charges

Paul Higgins
Tue Feb 6 2024 - 13:49

A teenager was stabbed to death last week in Co Derry in an alleged “revenge” attack, a court has heard.

Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, heard that a kitchen knife allegedly used to stab Blake Newland (17) had his blood and DNA allegedly attributable to Stephen and Andrew McGlinchey on it.

Appearing in court by video-link from police custody, Stephen McGlinchey (27), of Dunmore Place, Limavady, and his brother Andrew McGlinchey (29), of Roe Mill Gardens, Limavady, were jointly charged with the teenager’s murder on February 2nd last.

Andrew McGlinchey was also charged with assaulting a police officer on the same date.

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Det Sgt O’Donnell told the court he believed he could connect the brothers to the respective charges.

Defence solicitor Don Mahoney confirmed that neither defendant was applying for bail and District Judge Nigel Broderick remanded them into custody and adjourned the cases to March 4th.

Two 16-year-old twin brothers later appeared in court charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on Michael McGlinchey, the father of Stephen and Andrew McGlinchey.

During bail applications for the youths, Det Sgt O’Donnell said police believe the death of “well-liked” Blake Newland arose from an alleged “revenge” attack by the McGlincheys.

Michael McGlinchey was taken to Altagelvin Hospital, where he still remains, but his sons named the twins and Blake Newland as their assailants.

When officers attended a property mentioned by the McGlinchey brothers, Det Sgt O’Donnell said they found Blake Newland lying on the kitchen floor “unconscious” and with “apparent stab wounds to his chest”. He was pronounced dead at 11.10pm.

The detective told the court that police enquiries suggest that the McGlinchey brothers arrived at the front door of Blake Newland’s home and his mother told them to leave. Det Sgt O’Donnell said “that’s when the melee started as Blake and the twins came out of the house”.

The trio of teenagers were allegedly armed with a “spike implement” and with ropes, which had either a block of wood or a brick tied at the end, and the other with a metal bar tied at the end.

One of the 16-year-olds admitted that “he struck Michael McGlinchey with a bit of wood and he fell down,” the court heard.

Defence counsel for one of the boys told District Judge Nigel Broderick there were no witness statements nor forensic evidence linking the boy’s to the attack on the McGlincheys. He said the evidence against the twins “has come from the least credible source imaginable – people accused of murder”.

“It is foreseeable that he [Michael McGlinchey] will be charged with murder in the coming days,” he added.

The case of the twin brothers was also adjourned to March 4th.

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