MacDermott, Eamonn

Eamonn MacDermott was convicted in January 1979 of murder, attempted murder, possession of a firearm, belonging to a proscribed organisation, and conspiracy to collect information. Mr MacDermott received a sentence of life imprisonment.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in March 2002.

Mr MacDermott had been arrested in 1977 and interrogated by teams of Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers.

Mr MacDermott confessed to the offences, his conviction being substantially based upon confession evidence which had been ruled admissible by the trial judge.

Mr MacDermott complained of ill-treatment and misconduct during interrogation.

During review, the CCRC obtained new evidence, not presented to the trial judge, relating to the ill-treatment of other suspects also held for interrogation at Castlereagh Police Station at the same time as Mr MacDermott, strengthening Mr MacDermott’s case that he had also been mistreated.

Two RUC officers, one of whom had been involved in the interrogation of Mr MacDermott, had been recommended for prosecution.

The CCRC considered that this evidence might have altered the trial judge’s view of the police officers’ credibility and that the confession statements might therefore have been ruled inadmissible.

The CCRC referred the conviction in January 2006.

The Northern Ireland Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in February 2007.