THREE people who helped killers Kane Hull and Liam Porter after the brutal murder of 24-year-old Carlisle man Ryan Kirkpatrick will be sentenced today.

Due to appear at Carlisle Crown Court are 23-year-old Olivia Memmory, from Cummersdale, near Carlisle; Michael Celmins, 32, of Stantgate, Irthington; and 32-year-old Ross Neville, from Canonbie.

All three have admitted assisting an offender.

Hull, 29, and 33-year-old Porter, were given life sentences last month for the brutal “execution style” killing of Mr Kirkpatrick on September 18 last year outside a bar at Carlyle’s Court in the city centre.

Prosecutors described how the defendants, their  faces hidden beneath masks, had gone to Carlyle’s Court shortly after they had earlier confronted Mr Kirkpatrick in the same area. In front of shocked onlookers, Hull fatally stabbed Mr Kirkpatrick before immediately fleeing the scene.

Despite efforts to save him, Mr Kirkpatrick died at the scene.

During the Carlisle Crown Court trial, the jury heard about how Hull and Porter destroyed key evidence of the attack and then fled the country, using a series of cars and mobile phones as they travelled to a series of holiday accommodations in Alston, the Borders, Northern Ireland and then the Republic of Ireland.

Memmory repeatedly helped the killers, shopping for them to buy replacement clothing and booking accommodation. 

The two killers took a ferry from Stranraer to Northern Ireland, spending a night in Belfast. They then travelled from there on to the Republic of Ireland, where they were caught by police and eventually extradited.

Memmory has admitted assisting an offender; Neville has admitted two allegations of assisting an offender; while Celmins has admitted one count of assisting an offender.