Man jailed for minimum of 24 years for murdering friend and dumping body

Irish Daily Mirror

27-06-2025

A man who murdered another man and then dismembered and dumped his body in a reservoir in Co Tyrone has been sentenced to a minimum of 24 years.
Stephen McCourt, 41, from Riverview in Augher, Co Tyrone, was found guilty of murdering Damien Heagney after a trial which ended in April this year.
Mr Heagney, 47, from Cookstown, was last seen alive at the end of December 2021.
He was reported missing in July 2022 and, the following month, his partially dismembered remains were recovered from Cappagh Reservoir.
Mr Justice Stephen Fowler told Belfast Crown Court that the dismemberment of his body was "callous in the extreme" and added greatly to the distress of his family, in particular his mother.
He also said that the disposal of Mr Heagney's body in the reservoir was an additional step taken to "conceal, destroy evidence, cover the murder and subvert police investigation".
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"I'm satisfied to the required standard that Mr Heagney's death was the result of a vicious attack with a knife, including numerous blows to one of the most vulnerable parts of the body, the head," Mr Justice Fowler added.
"It involved a number of injuries to the head, including the tip of the knife breaking off and lodging in the skull.
"I'm also satisfied that, as a compelling influence from consideration of the totality of the evidence, including that it was reasonable to be inferred that the knife wounds were also sustained in the deceased's arm and the deceased died from the attack by the defendant.
"I consider it to be a case of multiple stabbing.
"I consider this to be a case of high culpability, the starting point of 20 years. I also find the following aggravating factors to be present."
He cited the issues around the dismemberment and disposal of the body as aggravating factors in the case.
He added that further aggravating factors were the defendant's criminal record.
"His previous convictions for wounding with intent and his two previous findings of dangerousness," Mr Justice Fowler added.
"He has failed to respond to previous sentences and intervention.
"A pre-sentence report was received from the Probation Service and, surprisingly, the report concludes that the defendant poses a significant risk of serious harm, given the myriad of risk factors and absence of any significant protective factors.
"In terms of mitigation, the only matter in relation to the offending I can identify is that there is no evidence this attack was premeditated or planned, given text messages between the two men.
"However, I see no personal mitigation in this case.
"Having identified the aggravating factors, I consider an uplift of five years in sentences merited, which is tempered by a modest degree of mitigation, which will be reflected in a reduction of one year.
"Looking at what is the appropriate tariff in this case, I come to the conclusion that the tariff that is appropriate to the circumstances of this case will be 24 years.
"This is equivalent of a prison sentence of 48 years."