Timothy Walker pleads guilty to Denis Shearer murder

The particulars of the offences disclose that on 28 February, 2021, Brannigan “did an act with intent to impede his apprehension or prosecution, namely drove your motor vehicle to collect Timothy Walker in the Glencairn area of north Belfast and drove him back to Holywood and onwards to Newtownards, in an effort to evade his detection and apprehension”.

The charges arose following an attack on her cousin Mr Shearer at his home on the Fernmore Road in Bangor at the end of February 2021 and he died on 9 March, that year.

Walker, originally from Abbey Ring in Holywood but now with an address at HMP Maghaberry, bludgeoned Mr Shearer with a “blunt instrument” before fleeing the scene and leaving his victim fatally injured.

Earlier this year, Walker entered a guilty plea to “manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility” but that was not accepted by the prosecution.