Lawless, Ian

Ian Lawless was convicted in February 2002 of murder and received a sentence of life imprisonment.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in April 2005.

Mr Lawless’s conviction was based solely on confessions he was alleged to have made to people at a pub, to a taxi driver, and to a fellow prisoner on remand.

During review, the CCRC obtained fresh psychiatric and medical evidence indicating that Mr Lawless was susceptible and prone to making false confessions.

Had the jury been presented with this new evidence at trial, its conclusions regarding the reliability of Mr Lawless’s alleged confessions may have been different.

Consequently, there was a real possibility the Court of Appeal would find the conviction unsafe.

The CCRC referred the conviction in October 2008.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in June 2009.