The 1981 murder convictions of three men have been upheld
BBCThe convictions of three men who were jailed for the Troubles murders, which they have always denied, have been upheld.
George Kirkpatrick and brothers Eric and Cyril Cullen served 14 years in prison for the murder of Catholic teenager Francis Rice in Castlewellan in 1975.
The men, known as the Castlewellan Three, had appealed against their convictions after claiming that fresh evidence cast doubt on their guilt.
A three-judge panel at the Court of Appeal ruled on Friday that it was not satisfied that the protection of those convicted had been reduced.
The appeal was rejected.
murder of francis rice
Catholic teenager Francis Rice was kidnapped and stabbed to death. His body was thrown in a street.
The killing was claimed by the Protestant Action Force – a pseudonym for the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).
In 1981, Mr Kirkpatrick and the Cullens received life sentences for the murder, although neither of them had ever been involved in paramilitaries and had refused to serve their time in a loyalist prison wing.
The judge in the case offered him a lesser sentence if he pleaded guilty but he refused.
The only evidence against the three were their signed statements in which they claimed that they had been deceived during police interviews and had been forced to do so.
The judge said he had confidence in the integrity of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers involved in the case.
After the BBC Spotlight program in 2018who expressed serious concerns over the decision The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) decided that there were grounds to question the safety of the conviction And will reopen the case.
The program revealed that several officers who interviewed three men later learned that they had testified under oath about police interview notes used in another case to convict four other men of murder. Wrote and lied.
Who were the Castlewellan Three?
Cyril Cullen died in 2016 George Kirkpartick died in 2021,
Eric Cullen is the only surviving member of the Castlewellan Three.
Speaking to BBC Northern Ireland’s Spotlight program in 2018, George Kirkpatrick recalled his police interview.
“He said: ‘Well, you know why you’re here.’
“And I say: ‘I don’t know why I’m here.’
“He says: ‘You are here to murder Francis Rice.’ And I think I said to him: ‘You’ve got the wrong guy, I want nothing to do with him.'”
After several days of continuous interrogation, Mr. Kirkpatrick and the Cullens all signed confessions saying that they together committed the murder.
But all three claimed they were betrayed by spies and forced to confess.
The confessions were the only evidence against him.
They were all found guilty and served 14 years in prison.
‘Inconsistencies surfaced’
The 2018 Spotlight program raised serious concerns about the safety of the convicts.
A forensic psychiatrist questioned the veracity of the confessions and how they could have been admissible in court.
He was concerned that Mr. Kirkpatrick, in particular, was a person sensitive to pressure.
Various inconsistencies in the case against the men were also identified.
Francis Rice’s family has always believed that the original decision was the right one.
