Michaela McAreavey: Man given community service over offensive chant

A 22-year-old man convicted of stirring up hatred by taking part in singing a song which mocked the murder of Michaela McAreavey has been given 240 hours community service.

The teacher from County Tyrone was killed on honeymoon in 2011.

The charges relate to chanting which was video streamed from an Orange Order in Dundonald in May 2022.

Dillion Kelly, of Edmund Court in Tobermore, had denied the charge but was found guilty.

At Belfast Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, District Judge George Conner said he was satisfied the words of the song were not just abusive and insulting, but that hatred was likely to be stirred up as a result of them.

Two other men have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced for the same offence.

Steven Kane, 26, from Coolshinney Heights in Magherafelt, received a four-month suspended custodial term, while 23-year-old Cian Jones, of Craigadick Road in Maghera, was given 240 hours community service.

Footage of the singing, which involved members of a flute band punching the air as they chanted about the schoolteacher's death, was played in court.

The prosecution said the lyrics of the chant mocked the murder of a young Catholic woman in a venue surrounded by Union flags.

"The words used can only be regarded by any right-minded person as abhorrent," a lawyer said.

The murder victim's widower, John McAreavey, provided a statement on the distress caused to him and the wider family circle by the chanting.

Kelly declined to give evidence at the hearing, but during police interviews he denied taking part in the singing.

However, following a contested hearing he was convicted on a charge of behaviour intending to stir up hatred.

In court on Wednesday, the prosecution claimed Kelly had displayed little remorse or awareness of the impact on victims.

"He states that because of this offending he lost his job which he feels is unfair," the prosecution lawyer submitted.

"This offence requires a deterrent sentence."

Kelly's solicitor said the case had been taken over by a "media frenzy" and said the individual who live streamed events was never prosecuted.

He accepted the song's lyrics were offensive and involved a "warped sense of humour".

Imposing the community service order, the judge said: "It's not a case where it is necessary to send him into custody, it would be far better if he tries to put something back into the community."

But he warned Kelly: "If the work is not done to a satisfactory standard you can anticipate an immediate custodial sentence."