A MAN who took part in singing an offensive song about Michaela McAreavey has been told he must carry out 240 hours of community service.
Cian Jones, 23, of Maghera, pleaded guilty in January to a charge of intending to stir up hatred.
BBC News reports that Jones was handed the maximum community service order possible, with the judge saying the offence was ‘aggravated by hostility, based on religious belief’.
Mrs McAreavey, the daughter of former Tyrone manager Mickey Harte, was murdered while on honeymoon in Mauritius in January 2011.
No one has ever been convicted over her death, with two hotel workers being found not guilty of her murder in July 2012.
Jones was one of three men charged after a video recorded at an Orange Hall in May 2022 showed people singing a song mocking the school teacher’s death.
Others could be seen punching the air during the song, which also referenced her husband John McAreavey and appeared to have been written previously.
The two men charged alongside Jones pleaded not guilty to a charge of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour intending to stir up hatred.
They are due to stand trial this month.