The dad of a Newcastle United fan who died when the plane he was travelling on was shot down over Ukraine said it was "emotional" hearing that his son was murdered - but that "it won't change much".
Barry Sweeney's son Liam, 28, was travelling to New Zealand with fellow supporter John Alder, 63, to watch the Magpies in a pre-season friendly. The pair were killed alongside 296 others who were on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 when it was attacked while travelling from Amsterdam to Malaysia on July 17, 2014.
Four defendants went on trial at The Hague in the Netherlands in March 2020 charged with multiple counts of murder. During the trial, which lasted more than two-and-a-half years, none of the suspects attended court to answer the charges.
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On Thursday afternoon, three people were convicted of the murders of all 298 people on board the MH17 flight and sentenced to life imprisonment. They were Russians defendants Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Ukrainian defendant Leonid Kharchenko.
A fourth defendant, Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted due to lack of evidence. The Russian, who was represented by defence lawyers, had insisted he was innocent in a video recording played in court.
Liam's dad Barry Sweeney, 60, travelled to the Netherlands with his son Marc Sweeney, 33, and his daughter Vicki Norman, 38, to hear the verdict on Thursday.
The delivery driver, who lives in Longbenton, said: "When I heard the verdict I felt a bit numb. Three out of four got a sentence but it doesn't really change a lot because they're not going to go to jail.
"It's still good that they've been accused and found guilty, at least that's a step forward. But we have still lost 298 people that didn't need to be lost and we're never going to get them back. It will never end but at least we know now they were murdered so that is a help.
"It was emotional. When I got back to the hotel I was totally drained. I think it took it out of everybody. It's been a long time coming. It's been coming for eight years and four months."
Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said evidence presented by prosecutors at a trial proved the Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was brought down by a Buk missile fired by pro-Moscow Ukrainian rebels on July 17 2014. The three defendants convicted have two weeks to file an appeal.
Barry was joined in court by the families of the other victims who had also attended to hear the verdict of the trial. He said: "We knew what we were coming for and what to expect.
"We went in the court just after one o'clock and it was about four o'clock when we got out. The judge must have spoken for about two hours. They had to go through all the information and make sure everything was right.
"I'm glad I came and I have been well looked after by all concerned. I have met a lot of people that I have got to know because of the tragedy. It's sad to think we became friends because of this.
"They have two weeks to appeal. I think we have to wait and see what happens."
Barry, who is also a qualified referee, said every year on July 17 he celebrates Liam's life with his family at The Strawberry in Newcastle. He said the owners of the bar never forget the anniversary.
He said: "The last eight-and-a-half years have been up and down, you have your emotional days. In general, you have got to get on with life. What we have decided to do is celebrate Liam's life.
"John and Liam became good friends. They weren't the best of friends but they used to meet up at the academy games. John asked him 'Do you fancy coming to New Zealand?' and off they went, they were dead excited.
"I'm a big Newcastle fan and Liam was a big Newcastle fan. There's always people coming up to me to talk. People are so nice and it gets you through it."
Back in July, an inquest into the deaths of five of the British victims, including Liam and John, was held at the City Hall in Leicester. Professor Catherine Mason, Senior Coroner for Leicester, said she was satisfied that MH17 was shot down by a Buk missile fired by pro-Russian separatists.
She concluded that the five men - which also included Richard Mayne, 20, Glenn Thomas, 49, Ben Pocock, 20, had been unlawfully killed. The hearing heard how they had all died from multiple injuries.
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