Jury sworn in for trial linked to killing of teen John Paul McDonagh in Enniskillen

Three people have been charged with offences arising from incidents in Enniskillen which culminated in the death of the 18-year-old.

Joe Joyce Jnr (32), of Abercorn Road in Derry, has been charged with murdering Mr McDonagh. He denies the charge.

He faces an additional four charges including possessing an offensive weapon on April 11, 2020, and fighting and affray on the same date.

Gerard Christopher McDonagh - a brother of the deceased - has also been charged with offences linked to the same incidents.

The 26 year old, from Lisnafin Park in Strabane, is standing trial on four charges. These include attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to Joe Joyce Jnr on April 11, 2020, and possessing both a knife and spade on the same date.

A third defendant, a youth who cannot be named due to his age, was charged with four offences including affray and attempting to wound James Joyce with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.

ll three are standing trial at Dungannon Crown Court, sitting in Belfast.

Trial judge Mr Justice Rooney told the panel of six men and six women that the hearing is expected to last up to three weeks.

He told the jury: "This case involves a series of incidents at Coolcullen Meadows in Enniskillen on April 11, 2020. One of the incidents resulted in the death of John Paul McDonagh.

"Several of the incidents were captured on CCTV footage and two segments of mobile phone footage."

Outlining that this footage will be played at the trial, Mr Justice Rooney told the jurors that as they will be reaching a decision based solely on the evidence in court, they should not conduct their own online research and should ignore any media reports.

After they were sworn in, the jurors were excused for the day, but told to return to Laganside Courts ton Tuesday morning when the Crown is due to open its case against the three defendants.