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| John Proctor murder: Seamus Kearney convicted | John Proctor murder: Seamus Kearney convicted |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A man has been given a life sentence for the murder of an RUC reservist in a hospital car park in September 1981. | |
| John Proctor, 25, was murdered by the IRA at Magherafelt hospital, County Londonderry, after visiting his newborn son. | |
| Seamus Martin Kearney, 57, of Gorteade Road, Maghera, had denied murder and possessing an Armalite AR15 rifle. | Seamus Martin Kearney, 57, of Gorteade Road, Maghera, had denied murder and possessing an Armalite AR15 rifle. |
| No tariff has been set on the life sentence but under the Good Friday Agreement he may serve two years. | |
| DNA found on a cigarette butt recovered from the scene later matched Kearney's DNA profile and the Belfast Crown Court judge said in "all of the circumstances I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had smoked the cigarette and having finished it smoking it, discarded it at or about the time of the shooting". | |
| A judge said it was abundantly clear that a number of individuals had murderous intent that evening. | |
| Witnesses had described seeing a white Ford Escort car in the hospital car park with at least two men including one man with a rifle. | |
| The car was found later that night on the Tobermore to Draperstown Road. | |
| The judge said: "They came armed to kill, and they executed their plan. | |
| "The gunman was there to fire the weapon, the driver of the car was there to remove the gunman and the weapon from the scene, and any other occupant of the car would have been there to provide support for either the gunman, the driver, or both. | |
| "All the occupants of the car are guilty of murder." | |
| Earlier this month, judgement was reserved in the non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court. | Earlier this month, judgement was reserved in the non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court. |