Murphy, Colin

Colin Murphy was convicted in June 1991 of conspiracy to supply cannabis and received a sentence of four years’ imprisonment.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in December 2000.

Subsequent to the trial, two police officers involved in Mr Murphy’s case were discredited as witnesses of truth.

One officer had been convicted of perverting the course of justice and conspiracy to supply controlled drugs, while another had also been convicted of perverting the course of justice.

At trial, the prosecution had relied on the jury’s acceptance of accounts given by these police officers of the circumstances of Mr Murphy’s arrest, items found in a search of his flat, and alleged admissions made by Mr Murphy to these officers.

Mr Murphy had contested this evidence in its entirety.

The CCRC considered that the police officers’ credibility – and the credibility of the evidence they had provided at trial – had been undermined.

The CCRC referred the conviction in June 2003.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in October 2004.