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A judge has denied a bid by three men accused of murdering a father-of-two in east Belfast to have their cases dismissed.

Walter Ervine, 43, Glenn Rainey, 38, and Robert Spiers, 41, are charged with the murder of Ian Ogle in January 2019, which they deny.

They had launched "no case to answer" applications on the grounds there was insufficient evidence to proceed any further.

At Belfast Crown Court on Monday, Mr Justice McFarland ruled that the cases against Mr Rainey of Ballyhalbert Caravan Park, Mr Ervine of Litchfield Street in Belfast and Mr Spiers of Millers Park in Dundonald could proceed.

Mr Ogle was 45 when he was beaten and stabbed 11 times yards from his Cluan Place home.

The prosecution contends that two minutes before he was attack, CCTV from a bus on the Albertbridge Road showed a group of five men walking towards Cluan Place and that these men were involved in the fatal attack.

Two men have admitted killing Mr Ogle.

Jonathan Brown, 39, from Whinney Hill in Dundonald and 45-year-old Mark Sewell of Glenmount Drive in Newtownabbey were handed life sentences earlier in 2024.

Mr Rainey, Mr Ervine and Mr Spiers went on trial, in a non-jury court.

Their bid to have the cases dismissed came at the end of that trial.

During the trial prosecutors said Mr Rainey and Mr Ervine were involved in an incident with Mr Ogle's son in a bar in 2017.

Prosecution evidence against Mr Rainey included his mobile phone activity with his co-accused on the night of the murder, his DNA being found on the door handle of car the prosecution say was used to transport those involved in the murder and his travel to Thailand in the aftermath of the fatal attack.

His barrister argued that there was no evidence of issues between his client and Mr Ogle.

The Crown said Mr Ervine was the "lead male" caught on the bus CCTV footage and that the clothes that man wore were similar to those worn by Mr Ervine earlier the same day.

It was also argued that a man who prosecutors said could have been Mr Ervine was seen cycling along Wye Street and dismounting from his bike in a similar method used by Mr Ervine when he was captured on CCTV on a shop on the Newtownards Road earlier that month.

Mr Ervine's barristers said the way he dismounted a bicycle was "not unique" and that the motivation for using mobile phone usage on the night of the murder was "pure speculation".

The Crown argued Mr Spiers was "male five" in the group and had a knife in his pocket.

A large knife was recovered from the Connswater River the month after Mr Ogle was murdered and when Mr Spiers' home was searched a set of the same brand of knives was found, with one of the knives missing.

Mr Spiers' barristers argued that the knife sets were widely available to buy and there was no evidence to link the knife to the murder.

His legal team also argued there was no evidence of ill feeling between Mr Spiers and Mr Ogle, and that when he was arrested he co-operated with police.

After considering the applications for all three defendants, the Judge acknowledged that whilst there were "flaws and gaps" in the Crown's case, he was taking in all the evidence - and refused the defence applications.

Barristers for all three defendants confirmed their clients would not give evidence.

The case is due back in court on 18 October.