A Co Donegal man yesterday lost an application to have overturned his conviction for the attempted murder of a part-time UDR soldier in Co Fermanagh in an incident in 1992 during which an IRA man was shot dead.
The Court of Criminal Appeal will today hear counsel on whether a certificate should be granted to Noel Christopher Magee to appeal the matter to the Supreme Court as two other men charged with the same offence have had their convictions quashed.
Magee (36), of Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, was convicted at the Special Criminal Court in November 1995 of the attempted murder of Mr William Eric Glass, a dog warden and part-time UDR soldier, at a farmyard at Scardans, Belleek, Co Fermanagh, on February 5th, 1992. The court also convicted Magee on related firearms offences arising out of the same incident and jailed him for 11 1/2 years.
Two other men convicted on similar charges had their convictions for the attempted murder of Mr Glass quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal although the court upheld their convictions on firearms charges.
Magee's conviction arose out of an incident in the farmyard of Mr Patrick Monaghan at Scardans in 1992. Four armed men occupied Mr Monaghan's farmhouse on the night of February 3rd, 1992. Two days later Mr Glass received a phone call claiming a child had been bitten by a dog at Mr Monaghan's farm and asking for assistance. Mr Glass drove to the farmhouse carrying a loaded automatic pistol issued to him by the UDR.
In evidence to the Special Criminal Court, Mr Glass said a masked man had run to his van and shouted: "IRA, get out of that van." He said the man fired a shot through the front window of his van. Mr Glass said he also fired some shots and the man seemed to fall. The body of a young man, Joseph McManus from Sligo, was later found in the farmyard. McManus was later described by the IRA as one of its members.
Mr Glass also described being fired at by other men and of firing more shots himself. Mr Glass was hit eight times in the legs.
Magee was arrested on the same day in Co Donegal about a mile from where the shooting occurred. Three balaclavas were found in a stream about 80 yards away and two Kalashnikov rifles and a handgun were found a short distance away.
In his appeal against conviction, Magee contended the Special Criminal Court was wrong in holding that he was one of four men who ambushed Mr Glass and that there was a common intention to kill Mr Glass. He also contended the court paid insufficient attention to the discrepancies in Mr Glass's evidence.
Delivering judgment on the appeal yesterday, the Court of Criminal Appeal noted the Special Criminal Court had accepted that part of Mr Glass's evidence was unreliable but was satisfied his evidence in relation to the basic facts could be accepted.
Mr Justice O'Flaherty, presiding, said the court believed there was "ample evidence" entitling the Special Criminal Court to find Magee guilty of attempted murder. It followed that Magee's other convictions should also be upheld.