GREG Crawford began a life sentence last week after a jury of six men and six women found him guilty of the murder of Gareth Brosnan-Grant over four years ago.
The 24-year-old, with an address at St Munchin’s Street, St Mary’s Park, denied the killing of the victim at his home on St Ita’s Street on October 8, 2007.
The six day trial was deliberated by the jury in under an hour, and a unanimous guilty verdict was returned.
Crawford had a number of previous convictions and at the time of going to trial, he was serving a 10-year sentence for the possession of a firearms in suspicious circumstances.
During the trial, the court heard that Crawford’s DNA was found on gloves which were wrapped around the gun at the rear of his grandparents’ house.
Ballistics reports matched the bullet found in the body of the victim to the same Ithaca gun.
Claire Ronan, the victim’s partner, told the court that when she heard the gunshot she saw a man she recognised as Greg “Squid” Crawford, standing over the slumped body.
David Grant told the court that he saw the accused at the end of the street near the victim’s home a short time before the shooting.
Garda evidence included them calling to Crawford’s parents’ house, where the accused was found wearing fresh clothes and with wet hair.
Mr Justice Paul Carney imposed the mandatory life sentence after the jury returned the guilty verdict.
Claire Ronan said during a victim impact statement that “we were robbed of so much when we lost him. Our lives have changed in so many ways. We will never forget him”.
