Two men who admitted killing Portadown man Randall Ellis were told today (Friday) they will be sentenced for manslaughter next week.
David Ellis, 21 and a nephew of the deceased, and 26-year-old Dean Edward Martin appeared at Dungannon Crown Court, sitting in Belfast.
The pair didn’t know each other and met for the first time in a bar in Portadown on December 8, 2019.
After consuming beer and Buckfast together, the two men then armed themselves with knifes before walking to the Clounagh Park home of Randall Ellis in the early hours of the following morning.
Once inside the property, Mr Ellis sustained a single stab wound to the inside calf of his right leg. The 49-year old, known as Foggy, applied a tourniquet to his wound, but died in his home.
A neighbour raised the alarm at around 9.50am on December 9 when blood was spotted on Mr Ellis’s doorstep.
When police and the paramedics arrived, Mr Ellis’s body was found lying just behind the front door. Despite attempts at resuscitation, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Crown prosecutor Neil Connor QC told Mr Justice O’Hara that in the aftermath of the death, police received a call from a friend of David Ellis.
The caller claimed she heard David Ellis say Dean Martin had ‘shanked’ his uncle in the leg.
Both men were subsequently arrested, and while Ellis has since given several different accounts of what happened, Martin claimed that due to his alcohol intake, he had no memory of what occurred.
Mr Justice O’Hara remarked that there seemed to have been no motive put forward for the attack, but noted Ellis had spoken about a violent incident done by his uncle in his childhood.
Ellis, of no fixed abode, appeared in court via a videolink with Hydebank, while Martin, from Tandragree Road in Portadown, attended the hearing in person.
After listening to submissions, Mr Justice O’Hara revoked Martin’s bail and remanded him in custody ahead of sentencing, which has been listed to take place next Thursday.
