The Supreme Court in Britain today allowed appeals by two men who say they were victims of miscarriages of justice and were wrongly refused compensation after their murder convictions were overturned.
The judges ruled in favour of Raymond McCartney and Eamonn MacDermott, both from Northern Ireland, who were convicted in January 1979 of murder and membership of the IRA but had their convictions quashed in February 2007.
But a nine-strong panel rejected a similar challenge by former aircraft engineer Andrew Adams, of Newcastle upon Tyne, who spent 14 years in jail before his murder conviction was ruled unsafe.
They announced their ruling in a case of importance to other similar claims, including that of Barry George, who was acquitted of the murder of television presenter Jill Dando after spending eight years behind bars.
The judges had been asked to define the meaning of “miscarriage of justice” under the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Today’s ruling set a new test for what constitutes a miscarriage of justice.
Mr McCartney, a Sinn Féin Assembly member for Foyle, said his decision to pursue the case had been justified. “I feel totally vindicated,” he said. “This has been a long process and I want to pay due gratitude to my legal team who have been magnificent throughout this.
“I note that the Supreme Court has allowed us to pursue compensation and also note particularly that former Lord Chief Justice [of Northern Ireland] Brian Kerr has stated in the course of the judgment that not only should we have been acquitted but shouldn’t have faced trial in the first place.
“This is damning indictment of police interrogation techniques at the time and a damning indictment of the actions of the Public Prosecution Service at the time.”
Mr McCartney said he was not covered by legal aid at various stages of the case. “So it was a massive personal risk,” he said. “That’s why I must pay tribute to the professionalism and attitude of our legal team.”
He suggested the ruling would pave the way for other challenges. “This better defines what is a miscarriage of justice so it will provide other avenues for people in a similar position to explore,” he said.
Mr MacDermott, a journalist in Derry, said he was relieved and very happy, but he said he had not had time to consider how much compensation he may be entitled to.
“I have no idea, it’s something I haven’t given any thought to,” he said. “The battle at this stage was to clear the hurdle that we were entitled to compensation, and the actual mechanics of how much and all the rest I don’t know anything about and I’ll leave that to my legal team.”
PA