Byrne, Michael

Michael Byrne was convicted in September 1998 of murder and received a sentence of life imprisonment.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in September 2003.

A key issue at trial had been whether the jury were certain that the victim’s death was due to injuries inflicted by the three defendants in this case or whether it was possible that death had been due to a fire for which the defendants may not have been responsible.

An expert pathologist gave evidence that the injuries were the operative cause of death.

However, the pathologist’s conclusions were subject to forceful criticism in a new expert report obtained by the CCRC.

The new expert report indicated that the trial pathologist’s methodology had been deficient and his opinion about the cause of death was unreliable.

In addition, the trial pathologist’s professional standing and competence had been more generally criticised in several other cases.

The CCRC concluded that if the jury had been made aware of the challenges to the trial pathologist’s competence they might not have convicted the three defendants of murder.

The CCRC referred the conviction in June 2005.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in June 2006, substituting the murder convictions with convictions for causing grievous bodily harm.