O’Hagen, Myles Christopher

Myles Christopher O’Hagan was convicted in May 1974 at the Belfast City Commission of causing an explosion contrary to section 2 of the Explosive Substance Act. Mr O’Hagen received a sentence of eight years’ imprisonment.

The CCRC began a review of Mr O’Hagan’s conviction in August 2008.

Following investigation, the CCRC concluded that there was a real possibility the Court of Appeal would find Mr O’Hagen’s conviction unsafe on the basis of new, previously undisclosed, evidence obtained by the CCRC which was not known to the Court at the time of trial.

In addition, the review raised issues around Mr O’Hagan’s ability to cope with the trial process and defend himself as a 15 to 16 year old at the time of trial without legal support.

The CCRC referred the conviction in November 2014.

The Northern Ireland Court of Appeal later upheld the conviction.