Brian McDermottIn September 1973, the disappearance of a local boy from Ormeau Park in Belfast saw police conduct searches of the River Lagan. There, they uncovered the remains of 10-year-old Brian McDermott, who had failed to return home from a playground. The investigation into his murder focused on a prime suspect who was a member of the McDermott family.
It was at the height of “The Troubles,” in September 1973, when ten-year-old Brian McDermott left his South Belfast home for what would tragically be the last time. He left at 1:00pm to go out and play with some friends at nearby Ormeau Park, a ten minute journey from the McDermott family home.
Told by his parents to be home by 2:30pm for his lunch, Brian was not thought to be out long. However, when he failed to return home, his worried parents feared the worst and contacted police. Officer conducted a search of the area close to his home on Well Street in the lower Woodstock Road area of Cregagh, Belfast, scouring woodland and derelict buildings.
At first it was thought the child had simply stayed out later than intended, with friends playing, and that he would soon return home. This optimism was not share by Brian’s distraught parents who were told to remain home in the event that he should return. However, when he did not show, police treated his disappearance with more concern.
The last time anyone saw Brian McDermott was at Ormeau Park where told him parents he was going to play with friends. When six days past since he went missing, police decided to search the local river, for fear he may have fallen in. A team of experts lowered the nearby river Lagan, and there, near the Belfast Boat Club, made a horrifying discovery.
What investigators of the Royal Ulster Constabulary found in the river Lagan sickened even hardened detectives. Inside a hessian bag were the charred remains of a small child’s body. In fact, the body was so badly burned that the only way to positively identify the remains was to carry out fingerprint recovery.
At the time of the discovery, police released few details about the crime. It was said that the body had suffered mutilation, but detectives stopped short of describing the injuries carried out by the killer. It was only later that the full horror emerged. Both of the child’s legs were missing, along with one of the arms.
The identity of the victim was soon established, as that of Brian McDermott. When his family were told his body had been found, they were both devastated and confused. His mother told police that her son was terrified of water, and would never play near the river, making the circumstances of where the body was found all the more cruel.
The news of the murder reached the press and soon the local community, residents were shocked that such a crime could happen. Parents encouraged their children to come straight home after school, and many people who grew up in the area at that time would later described how most young people would largely avoid Ormeau Park for some time after.
The press called the crime, “The Most Horrific Murder Ulster Has Ever Known,” which added pressure on police to solve what for many families would have been their worst nightmare. A reward was offered for information that led to the arrest of his killer or killers, which was offered by a local paramilitary group. This was considered another shocking aspect surrounding the murder, since such groups largely avoid working with police.
The investigation saw police draw up a timeline of Brian’s last moments, and it was established fairly early that the last time he was seen was when he was spotted playing alone in Ormeau Park, in Belfast, between 13:00pm and 15:00pm. This was roughly 30 minutes to two-and-a-half hours after he left home.
The mutilation carried out on the body, and the whereabouts of the missing limbs was one of the most shocking characteristics of an already heinous crime. Who might have been responsible for carrying out the dismemberment of a 10-year-old boy became the top priority for police, who were convinced they were looking for a madman.
As part of the investigation, RUC detectives questioned Brian’s older brother in 1976. William McDermott, know to family and friends as “Billy” was around 16-years-old at the time of his brother’s murder, and police explored the possibility that the death had been part of a falling out between the brothers. However, Billy McDermott was not charged and later excluded as a suspect from the original investigation.
One line of inquiry detectives explored was a connection between Brian’s murder and the Kincora Boys’ Home sexual abuse scandal. Opened in 1958 by the local health authority to provide full-time accommodation for boys of (then) working age (15–18) who faced an abusive or otherwise compromised home life, the home was intended as a safe place for vulnerable children.
The home was closed in 1980 following the exposure of serious wrongdoing by staff and others, which started shortly after it opened. Details of the story were first published by the Irish Independent in January 1980, and revealed allegations of boys being sexually abused and prostituted, and the naming of prominent businessmen as being involved. The press claimed the abuse had been covered up by Westminster.
On April 3, 1980 three members of staff at the home, Joseph Mains, William McGrath and Raymond Semple were charged with a number of offences relating to the systematic sexual abuse of children in their care over a number of years. All three men were convicted for their part in the crimes at Kincora.
Although the abuse at the boy’s home was on-going when Brian went missing and his body later discovered, there was no evidence that his death and the abuse at Kincora were related. The boys at Kincora were victims of a child sex ring, which was alleged to have had links to MI5 and Ulster Loyalists, and none were found to have been murdered.
Despite a thorough investigation by a team of detectives, and a series of avenues explored, police were unable to secure enough evidence to identify the killer or killers of Brian McDermott. Although police were committed to find his killer, the case eventually went cold and many of the detectives were re-assigned to other investigations.
The case re-opened again in 2003, and it was reported the following year that William “Billy” McDermott, the elder brother of Brian had once again been questioned by detectives concerning the murder of his brother. This was the result of long established rumours of his involvement in Brian’s death, something that members of his own family believed were true.
Billy and Brian’s eldest brother, Edward “Eddie” Jr, insisted that Billy was responsible, and revealed that upon hearing the case was being re-opened, Billy acted strangely, and seemed to panic. Eddie McDermott even went so far as to offer a motive for the murder, one that he and other members of his family had long suspected.
According to Eddie, who was 19-year-old at the time of the murder, when he returned from the army on Saturday the 1st of September 1, 1973, the night before Brian went missing, he spent time with his younger brother Brian. At some point, he recalled how Billy had hit Brian, seemingly out of jealousy with how much attention he had given to their younger sibling.
Eddie recounted how he reprimanded his brother for hitting Brian, and has stated his belief that Billy met up with Brian at Ormeau Park and killed him accidentally by pushing him from a tree as “payback” for “getting him into trouble”. Once he saw his brother was dead, Eddie said Billy panicked.
It was then he decided to cut of his broken legs and arms, presumably to hide the injuries, before burning the remains to get rid of the evidence. Lastly, he placed the burned remains inside a hessian bag and dumped it in the river Lagan. Eddie called his brother “evil” and “depraved,” “a dangerous, violent thug,” and said he was “no brother of mine”.
Eddie McDermott even insisted that it was his belief that their recently deceased mother knew that Billy was responsible for Brian’s death, but never shared her suspicions in order to protect him. As for Billy McDermott, he publicly denied the allegations in September 2013 when interviewed by the British press.
When speaking on the 40th anniversary of Brian’s killing, William McDermott said: “My family has to live with the fact that Brian was murdered. I have to live with the fact that I was accused of doing it.” He said: “I have been treated very badly. As far as the police are concerned, they believe that I am guilty.”
“They said to me: ‘Billy we have the evidence’, and they tried to get me to confess to something that I did not commit. I am innocent and remain so until proven guilty in a court of law.” Billy, aged 56, said he had changed his name by deed poll to escape the stigma of being the prime suspect in his brother’s murder – something that, he said, had a huge impact on his life.
“My mother seemed to believe right to her very end that I might have been responsible. It’s horrendous. I don’t keep in touch, speak or communicate with the other members of my family. They have ostracised me. They think I did it. They think I was responsible.” Billy said that after his brother Brian was murdered, he left Northern Ireland but returned for a tour of duty after he joined the Army.
It became public knowledge that his arrest in 1976 had been a result of Billy coming to the attention of police for hitting his mother. Upon questioning, he made a confession. “They did get a confession from me at the time but it was unfounded,” he said. “It could not be used. It was fabricated. The statement was coerced out of me and was a complete non-runner.”
The motive the police suggested to him at the time, he said, was that he a falling-out with his younger brother. “I was 16 at the time and to consider doing what happened to Brian was outrageous, but they tried everything. He had hit me across the back with a stick, and the motive was maybe thought to be childhood revenge,” he said.
In 2008, Billy McDermott was jailed after reportedly sending threatening and abusive text messages to his ex-wife, Sarah, who had told police that he had confessed to killing his younger brother Brian. Details of this alleged admission were revealed during a court appearance at Worcester Magistrates Court.
Bill McDermott denies the allegation. “I am not a free man,” he said. “Since 1976 I have never been a free man since the police first accused me of my brother’s murder. I will remain a suspect until someone else confesses to the murder. “I would love somebody to come forward (and admit to it.)”
“Even if they were to remain anonymous, that would take the finger of suspicion away from me. That is the best thing that could happen to me.” With the 40th anniversary of the murder, Eddie made an appeal for information to catch his brothers killer. “Forty years is a long time. People have gone through a great deal of stress through the Troubles, but I am sure this remains in a lot of people’s minds.”
“There has got to be something out there that would bring this killer to justice,” he said. “That is all we need. Just one little clue. We had, over the years, the people ringing in with little bits of information. But we still need that little bit more, and it’s the people of Northern Ireland who would probably know that information or who the killer is.”
The Royal Ulster Constabulary continue to investigate the brutal murder of Brian McDermott. Detective Chief Inspector Byrne said: “It has been more than fifty years since that day and we are acutely aware of the pain and suffering that Brian’s family continue to feel and our thoughts very much remain with the family at this time.”
“Despite the passage of time, this murder case has never been closed and I am hopeful that someone may be able to provide information, no matter how small, which may open a new line of enquiry, or add a new dimension to information already available. It is also possible that someone, who did not volunteer information at the time, may be willing to speak with police now.”
“Legacy Investigation Branch Detectives will consider all investigative opportunities as part of the review into Brian’s murder. If anyone has any information in relation to Brian’s murder we would ask them to contact Legacy Investigation Branch where all information will be assessed and considered by investigators.”
Det Ch Insp Byrne said police are “acutely aware of the pain and suffering that Brian’s family continue to feel and our thoughts very much remain with the family at this time. Despite the passage of time, this murder case has never been closed and I am hopeful that someone may be able to provide information.”
The senior PSNI officer added that it is “possible that someone, who did not volunteer information at the time, may be willing to speak with police now”. Eddie McDermott told the press that the killing had a dramatic impact on his family. “Mum and dad turned to drink, we all were very close to breakdowns, it was very difficult,” he said.
“Both my mum and dad, when they spoke about when they died, (wanted) to be buried with Brian and dad got his wish. We buried dad with Brian.” Despite the passing of time, Eddie said he would never give up hope that whoever killed his brother would be brought to justice.
“I still think that whoever did it is still alive and living somewhere either in the UK or in Northern Ireland, and certainly they will probably be thinking they’ve got away with it,” he said. “All they have to do now is come forward and get it off their chest, because they must be suffering as well. I’ll never give up. One day justice will be done.”
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