The brother of a vulnerable man, who along with his friend was beaten so badly they were unrecognisable, has hit out at the 11-year jail term handed to the killer.
teven McBrine has just eight and a half years to serve of an 11-year tariff before he is eligible to apply for parole. He had a double murder charge reduced to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Joseph Dutton’s brother David felt McBrine should have faced trial for murder.
“A jury should have been allowed to decide, I feel we have been denied a chance for proper justice for Joseph,” he told the Belfast Telegraph.
David Dutton said he wanted his brother to be remembered, saying that he “deserved justice”.
Frances Murray (37) and Mr Dutton (47), were both beaten to death in Ms Murray's flat in north Belfast on December 23, 2019.
The attacks were so severe that they were unrecognisable, with barely a single part of their bodies free from injury.
First responders to the scene – a flat close to Belfast’s Antrim Road – were shocked at the extent of the victims’ injuries.
Mr Dutton had been kicked, punched and stamped to death. He had bleeding on the brain, his ribs were broken, his organs punctured and his voice box was badly damaged.
Ms Murray suffered similar injuries, consistent with a brutal and prolonged attack, McBrine (38) also stabbed her in the throat with a broken vodka bottle.
McBrine changed out of his bloody clothes and went on a rampage for several hours ,sparking a police man hunt.
He was arrested later that evening and told police he had consumed drink along with Diazepam, Pregabalin and cocaine prior to the fatal assaults.
The double murder charge was downgraded because it was said that McBrine suffered from Alcohol Dependency Syndrome (ADS).
Last week McBrine pleaded guilty to the two counts of manslaughter. Yesterday he was told he will serve 11 years before he is eligible for parole. He has already served two years and five months on remand.
David Dutton said he feels the vulnerability of his brother and his friend Frances was never properly considered.
Joseph Dutton had been a successful amateur boxer, an All-Ireland and Ulster Champion, and yet McBrine had no injuries when arrested, indicating his victim was completely incapacitated when he was attacked.
Post-mortem examinations showed both victims had high levels of alcohol in their system at the time of their brutal and violent deaths.
McBrine had a lengthy criminal record with 39 previous offences, many for violence, including one that carried a lengthy custodial sentence. He had been released from prison shortly before he killed the two friends.
“My main concern was that because of Covid, it was a year and a half later before (McBrine was diagnosed with ABS)”, said Mr Dutton.
“If he lost control when he killed my vulnerable brother and his friend – within 20 minutes he was changing clothes, hiding evidence and evading arrest – was he still not in control then?
“I asked in my victim impact statement why they didn’t seek further expert opinions.
“Joseph had blunt force trauma to his head – his voice box was busted, his ribs punctured, his liver and other organs. He had just gone to town on him.
“I ID’d my brother and he was completely black with bruising. The only way I recognised him was because his eye was open a bit.
“It was said he lost control, but 15 minutes later he was changing clothes. He went into a bar and he bought a carry out.”
David Dutton described how his brother’s drink problem had badly affected his life.
“Joseph’s alcoholism took everything from him,” he said.
“He had two sons – at one point he hit rock bottom, but then a few months before he was killed he came to me and said ‘I’ve got a wee flat on the Antrim Road and I want to get to see my boys’.
“So, he’d taken a turn, he was trying, he was genuinely trying, but it wasn’t easy.
“There were three people with a drink problem, two have been killed and one is using it as a defence for killing them and getting rewarded for it – that might be simplifying it, but that is how I see things.
“I want Joseph remembered – he was a brother, he was a father, he was troubled, but he was loved and he deserved justice.”
A spokesperson for the PPS said: “Prosecutors also have a general duty to keep prosecution decisions under consideration as a case proceeds. Where new information or evidence becomes available it should be considered along with all the existing information and evidence in the case and the Test for Prosecution applied afresh.
“In the course of this case, medical reports by two psychiatrists confirmed that the defendant suffered from an abnormality of mental functioning due to a diagnosis of mixed personality disorder and alcohol dependence. In the circumstances, and in line with the legislation on diminished responsibility, the Test for Prosecution was no longer met in respect of the offence of murder, and the legal test for manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility was met.
“The PPS has a duty to consider any formal offer from the defence for a defendant to plead guilty to a different charge, as happened in this case”.
The PPS said staff met the families of the two victims and discussed the evidence, the impact of that evidence and the legal framework governing the availability of the defence of diminished responsibility, adding the final decision to accept the pleas to manslaughter was communicated to the families “before the case was next listed”.
“We note the comments of the Judge during sentencing who said in light of the medical evidence the decision to accept the pleas of manslaughter was correct,” they added.
“We recognise the enduring pain of the families of the two victims, who lost their loved ones in violent and distressing circumstances.
“All PPS decisions are taken independently, impartially and strictly in accordance with the relevant legislation and the PPS Code for Prosecutors.”
