Latimer, Neil

Neil Latimer was convicted in July 1986 of murder and possession of a revolver with intent to endanger life. Mr Latimer received a sentence of life imprisonment.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in March 1997.

During investigation, the CCRC determined that between his arrest on 29 November 1983 and 5 December 1983, Mr Latimer was subject to 29 interviews, typically lasting between two and five hours.

Mr Latimer’s interview records revealed a complex history of admissions, retractions and further admissions, eventually leading to confessions of responsibility for the murder.

At trial, the prosecution relied on these confessions and on corroborative eyewitness evidence that supported part of their narrative of events.

Following review, the CCRC referred the conviction in May 2001 on the basis of fresh expert psychiatric evidence of vulnerability affecting the reliability of Mr Latimer’s confessions.

In addition, there was new evidence that the prosecution’s eyewitness suffered from a personality disorder that affected the reliability of their evidence.

The Northern Ireland Court of Appeal upheld the conviction in February 2004.