April 24, 2019: A mourner holds the order of service for the funeral of journalist Lyra McKee at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland.Getty Images

The trial of three men accused of murdering journalist Lyra McKee in Co Derry in 2019 began at the Belfast Crown Court today, Thursday, May 30.

Peter Gearoid Cavanagh, 35, Jordan Gareth Devine, 23, and Paul McIntyre, 56, who all have addresses in Co Derry, have been charged with the murder of McKee.

The three men have also been charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition, while McIntyre is additionally charged with membership of a proscribed organization.

McKee, 29, was fatally shot as she stood near police vehicles while observing a riot in the Creggan area of Derry on April 18, 2019. The New IRA subsequently claimed responsibility for her murder. 

McKee’s partner Sara Canning and sister Nichola Corner McKee were among those who attended the opening of the trial at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday.

David McDowell KC, who opened the case for the prosecution on Thursday, said McKee was shot at the "culmination of orchestrated disorder" in the Creggan area. 

McDowell told the trial that the gunman fired four shots in the direction of police Land Rovers, with one shot hitting McKee in the head as she stood nearby. 

“The gunman was accompanied to the firing point by a number of men who intentionally, we say, encouraged or assisted him,” McDowell told the court on Thursday, according to the PA.

“The prosecution contend that three of those men who accompanied him to the firing point were Paul McIntyre, Jordan Devine, and Peter Cavanagh, sometimes referred to as Gearoid.”

Also during the start of the non-jury trial on Thursday, Judge Patricia Smyth was also shown footage from the day of the riot captured by a production crew filming for MTV with presenter Reggie Yates.

The crew had been in Derry filming a documentary focused on Saoradh, which the PSNI has described as the political wing of the New IRA. 

The footage included clips of Yates being introduced to and accompanied by members of Saoradh, including some of the men accused of McKee's murder. 

McDowell drew Judge Smyth's attention to the size of the men and the clothes they were wearing. 

Yates and the production crew had left the scene of the riot shortly before McKee's murder, the court heard. 

Meanwhile, seven other men, who also all have addresses in Co Derry, have gone on trial for a range of lesser charges linked to the disorder on the night McKee was murdered, including rioting and throwing petrol bombs. 

They are Joseph Patrick Barr, 36, Jude McCrory, 23, William Elliott, 57, Joseph Anthony Campbell, 23, Patrick Gallagher, 32, Christopher Gillen, 43, and Kieran McCool, 55.

Previously, Niall Sheerin was sentenced to seven years in September 2022 having pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm and ammunition. He was also given an extended sentence after a finding of dangerousness for a period of five years. The PSNI said the firearm had a significant history of being used in a series of shootings across Derry and was the weapon used to murder McKee. Sheerin will also be subject to terrorist notification requirements under the Terrorism Act for the next 15 years.

On Thursday, Simon Coveney, who was Ireland's Tanaiste at the time of McKee's murder, said it was "good to see progress on this trial," and that his thoughts were with McKee's partner and family.