Five plead guilty in assault case

Five Belfast men are awaiting sentence after pleading guilty yesterday to involvement in a "punishment beating" in which a man…

Five Belfast men are awaiting sentence after pleading guilty yesterday to involvement in a "punishment beating" in which a man was stabbed to death in a flat in the Falls Road area of the city in the early hours of September 14th, 1997.

James Patrick Clarke (19), of Ardnaclowny Drive, Daniel Thomas McGurk (30), of Sorella Street, Kevin Bernard Nellis (21), of Leeson Street, Barry Owen Boardman (31), of Spanner Square, and Paul James Gerard Lynn (20), of Leeson Street, were accused of murdering Mr Kevin Taylor (23), but the charge was dropped when they pleaded guilty to lesser offences.

Clarke, McGurk and Nellis pleaded guilty to manslaughter, while Boardman admitted causing grievous bodily harm and Lynn, assault occasioning actual bodily harm.