Last death row man cleared of murder

Published Thursday, 21 June 2012
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The last man to be given a death sentence in the UK has had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal.

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Liam Holden was found guilty of the murder of a British soldier 40 years ago, but the Court of Appeal overturned the Ballymurphy man's conviction due to the non-disclosure of his questioning by the military.

Mr Holden said he was threatened and subjected to water torture in order to force a confession from him for the shooting of paratrooper Private Frank Bell in west Belfast in September 1972.

He was due to hang, but later had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment - he spent 17 years in jail before launching a bid to clear his name.

It had already been confirmed that the Director of Public Prosecutions would not be opposing the appeal after an assessment of evidence contained within a confidential annexe.

It showed that, by subjecting Mr Holden to hours of interrogation, the military flouted government guidelines that any suspects arrested by soldiers should immediately be handed over to the RUC for questioning.

Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan, sitting with Lord Justices Girvan and Coghlin, was told the rule was breached without anyone being informed at Mr Holden's trial.

The judge said: "We consider the appeal should be allowed because of the non-disclosure issues."

Mr Holden, now 58, was arrested by the Army on the day before his 19th birthday.

Mr Holden said that he was "content" now his guilty verdict has been overturned and added: "I think I'll be able to relax a bit now."

I've got my name cleared. The one thing I feel more than anything else is relief.

Liam Holden

He told UTV: "It's taken 40 years of my life to get to this stage where I'm actually cleared of the murder.

"I don't look back and regret it or am bitter about it. I've no animosity, no regrets, no nothing.

"I've done 17 years in jail for being innocent and four weeks in the death cell was just part and parcel of what I had to go through to get to where I am now. There's nothing going to change the fact that I was sentenced to death."

It was revealed in court for the first time that soldiers requested that he be taken to a military command post at Blackmountain School for questioning.

His barrister, Barry Macdonald QC, said he was held there for hours before being handed over to the police.

"The only evidence against him was his own admission," Mr Macdonald said.

Capital punishment was abolished for murder in Great Britian in 1969 and in Northern Ireland in 1973.

© UTV News
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9 Comments
Eamonn Andrews in BELFAST wrote (331 days ago):
Jim in Belfast and Neil in Carrickfergus shame on both of you.Both of you on commenting on the killings of soldiers and police, This story is about an inocent man that was sentenced to hang, then had his charges reduced to life imprisionment,And finally the truth has been told and his conviction has been over turned. but i dont here an, im sorry from you 2 idiots.Or is it ok look lock someone up because you thought he was a second class citizen.No more of that nonsense in IRELAND Equality and justice for all.
julie in glasgow wrote (331 days ago):
to neil in carrickfergus no i don't think the soldiers family have had any justice but fitting up an innocent man and torturing a confession out of him is certainly not justice either infact its barbaric and exactly what westminster are condeming in places run by corrupt governments like syria at the moment and in my opinion these soldiers should be prosecuted.
jim in belfast wrote (331 days ago):
The British army where protecting the people of Northern Ireland who where under threat from a terrorist organisation. The country was at WAR. Republicans need to remember this before they start trying to blame everything on the British Army. Step into their shoes for a moment and think what it must have been like for them patrolling the streets when an IRA bomb could have went off at any time to try and kill them. Things havnt changed much now either have they, army personel still being killed by republican movements. PSNI being killed by republican movements. If republicans didnt cause the trouble they caused then there would have been no Bloody Sunday or Ballymurphy. Dont throw stones if you live in glass houses comes to mind.
John McC in Belfast wrote (331 days ago):
In the early 1970's the British army were a law unto themselves. They knew that the due process of the law didn't apply to them. I'll be growing a long grey beard before I hear of prosecutions.
Danny in Belfast wrote (332 days ago):
Ray it's at the bottom of the artical 'Capital punishment was abolished for murder in Great Britian in 1969 and in Northern Ireland in 1973.' Took us 4 years and they almost hanged an innocent man, you've got to love our wee backward provence
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