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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Terrorism |
Sentence: |
5 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
5 |
Year Crime: |
1977 |
Year Convicted: |
1977 |
Year Cleared: |
2009 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
United Kingdom |
County or Region of Crime: |
Northern Ireland |
City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"John Fitzpatrick was sixteen years-old when convicted of charges related to his alleged involvement in a February 1977 arson attack on a motor garage in February 1977 and an attack on an Army patrol in December 1976. He made a statement after intense police interrogation, but contrary to English law he had been held incommunicado and not been allowed access to a lawyer or his parents. Based on his statement Fitzpatrick pled guilty to participating in the attack and membership of the IRA youth wing ("Fianna na hEireann"). Fitzpatrick was sentenced to five years in prison. After a three-day hearing in April 2009, the Court of Appeal ruled that Fitzpatrick's convictions must be quashed because his statement was unreliable, and there was no other evidence of his involvement in the shooting. Based on the ruling the 48-year-old Fitzpatrick is eligible for compensation. During the same Court of Appeal hearing Terence Shiels' convictions when he was also 16 and based on his statement obtained while being held incommunicado were also quashed." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Statement by the 16-year-old provided to the police after being denied access to a lawyer or his parents. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"After a three-day hearing in April 2009, the Court of Appeal ruled that Shiels and Fitzpatrick's convictions must be quashed because their respective statements are unreliable, and there is no other evidence of their involvement in the shooting." |
Defendant Aided By: |
England's Criminal Case Review Commission |
Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
16 |
Age When Released: |
17 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Men have IRA convictions quashed, BBC News, May 1, 2009" |
Information Location 1: |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8030265.stm |
Information Source 2: |
"Two terror convictions overturned after three decades, Belfast Telegraph, May 2, 2009" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/two-terror-convictions-overturned-after-three-decades-14288807.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Man's terror conviction quashed, BBC News, May 2, 2009" |
Information Location 3: |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8030455.stm |
Information Source 4: |
"Cleared men 'wrongly denied' pay-outs, UTV, April 18, 2012" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.u.tv/News/Cleared-men-wrongly-denied-pay-outs/d1f12234-2a87-4d51-8cd4-3a34a92ff653 |
Information Source 5: |
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Information Location 5: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org