THE parents of murdered Lurgan schoolboy Gavin Malcolm wept as a judge told them not to blame themselves over the death of their son.
The Crown Court judge, Mr Justice McCollum, said they had, done everything humanly possible to ensure his safety, as he jailed two Lurgan men for 12 years for the "wanton and futile killing" of the 15 year old boy in April 1994.
The accused, Keith Brown (23) and William Turkington (18), pleaded guilty to manslaughter. A charge of murder which they were facing initially was not proceeded with. A 22 year old soldier of the Royal Irish Regiment, Jason, Chittick, from Pines Park, Lurgan, was jailed for two years for withholding information about the murder and for assisting Thomas Haggan, who is currently serving indefinite detention for the murder.
Brown from Ashleagh Crescent, and Turkington, Munroe Avenue, were told by Mr Justice McCollum that it was implicit from the Crown's acceptance of their manslaughter pleas that they had not intended to kill the schoolboy. "But even as a manslaughter charge this is the most, serious that can be imagined", he added.
He also told them they had "picked on a young innocent lad trying to make his way home", and at the very least had intended to hurt and humiliate him but, that their "self control and judgment was impaired by alcohol". But he added: "Throwing Gavin from the window of the flats was a callous and calculated attack as great as one could ever imagine, even though extraordinarily the medical evidence does not suggest this was the cause of his death".
Addressing the boy's parents, and his father in particular, Mr Justice McCollum said he had "done everything a father could do to ensure his son had had a safe journey home" on the night he was murdered. "At least he can reassure himself that he had done everything humanly possible to look after his son".
The boy died from a fractured, skull probably caused when Haggan jumped on his head with both feet. After the attack Haggan, Brown and Turkington tipped him from the fourth floor window of a nearby block of flats.