Walsh, John

John Walsh was convicted in December 1992 of possession of a coffee jar bomb with intent and received a sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment.

The CCRC inherited an application for review of the conviction from the Northern Ireland Office in March 1997.

The main evidence against Mr Walsh had come from two British Army soldiers who had stated in evidence that whilst on patrol they had seen Mr Walsh place a coffee jar bomb on a wall.

A visit to the crime scene by a CCRC caseworker disclosed important discrepancies between the evidence of one of the soldiers and the physical layout of the surroundings of the crime scene.

Subsequently, the CCRC had the two soldiers re-interviewed by police officers. One of the soldiers significantly amended their evidence when re-interviewed.

The CCRC considered that this soldier’s credibility was unlikely to have withstood cross-examination had the discrepancies of their evidence been fully disclosed and understood at trial.

The CCRC referred the conviction in March 2000.

The Northern Ireland Court of Appeal upheld the conviction in January 2002.