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O’Doherty, Anthony

Published:

Anthony O’Doherty was convicted in October 1997 of aggravated burglary and causing grievous bodily harm. Mr O’Doherty received a sentence of 12 years’ imprisonment.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in October 1998.

At trial, expert evidence had been given that it was “highly probable” that Mr O’Doherty’s voice was the same as the voice of a man who had called the 999 service admitting to a serious assault.

The trial expert’s opinion was based upon techniques of auditory recognition.

During review, the CCRC obtained new expert evidence criticising the trial expert’s methods and conclusions, thereby undermining the reliability of the auditory identification techniques relied on at trial.

The CCRC referred the conviction in September 2001.

The Northern Ireland Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in April 2002.