Courts

Man jailed for minimum of 21 years for ‘savage’ Co Antrim murder

Michael Campbell and co-accused Robert Fulton sentenced over killing of Roy Reynolds

Murder victim Roy Reynolds. Photograph: PSNI/PA
Murder victim Roy Reynolds. Photograph: PSNI/PA
Ashleigh McDonald
Wed Mar 13 2024 - 13:18

A 34-year old man has been told he will spend a minimum of 21 years in jail for the “savage” murder of a Co Antrim man.

As he sentenced Michael Campbell at Belfast Crown Court, Mr Justice O’Hara called the murder of Roy Reynolds “brutal in the extreme, relentless and merciless.”

The 54-year-old from Newtownabbey was beaten and stabbed to death in Campbell’s flat at Derrycoole Way in Rathcoole some time between the evening of March 27th, 2022 and the early hours of the following morning.

After killing Mr Reynolds, Campbell then enlisted the help of Robert Mervyn Fulton (70), from Brickhill Park in Newtownabbey.

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Fulton drove his co-accused to North Woodburn Reservoir in Carrickfergus with Mr Reynolds’s body in the boot of his Toyota car.

The deceased’s semi-naked remains were then dumped in the water, with a breezeblock attached to his body. The victim’s jeans and underwear had also been pulled down to his ankles.

During the hearing at Belfast Crown Court, Mr Justice O’Hara said the “brutal murder” was “made worse, many times worse, by what was done by Campbell to Mr Reynolds body after he was killed.

“It wasn’t just that he was dumped in the reservoir. Before that, his clothes were removed by Campbell.”

Mr Reynolds was last seen on CCTV walking on Derrycoole Way in Rathcoole on March 27th.

At about 4.30am on Monday, police received a call regarding a body being dragged from a flat and placed into the boot of a car. The witness provided police with the car’s registration, which was quickly traced to Fulton.

Details were circulated to police and the vehicle was stopped just before 7am on Monday in Rathcoole.

Campbell was covered in blood and told police he had been fighting with his brother.

Officers separated Fulton from Campbell and the pensioner confirmed a body had been in the boot of his car and had been dumped at a lake.

Mr Reynolds’s body was discovered at 8.30am that morning in shallow water at the reservoir.

A postmortem report - which Mr Justice O’Hara described as a “catalogue of horror” - concluded Mr Reynolds died from multiple injuries to his neck, head, chest and abdomen.

Mr Justice O’Hara added that “injuries were found in almost every part of Mr Reynolds body” and there were in excess of 100 sites of injury inflicted with kicks, punches and weapons.

While Campbell was handed a minimum sentence of 21 years, Fulton had a sentence of two years and four months imposed on a charge of assisting an offender. This was divided equally between prison and licence, as Fulton has already served time on remand, he was not returned to jail.