Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Stephen McCaul

 

Charge:

Terrorism

Sentence:

3 years

Years Imprisoned:

2

Year Crime:

1979

Year Convicted:

1979

Year Cleared:

2012

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

United Kingdom

County or Region of Crime:

Northern Ireland

City of Crime:

Belfast

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Posthumously

Summary of Case:

"Stephen McCaul was wrongly convicted of terrorism related charges based on his false confession when he was 16 to two bus hijackings and two burglaries where shotguns were stolen. He was arrested at his home in Twinbrook, Northern Ireland in March 1979. McCaul was questioned for 52 hours without a lawyer or an independent adult present. After his conviction McCaul was sentenced to three years detention. McCaul began a legal challenge to his conviction, but he died in 1995. His father continued his appeal. A consultant psychiatrist found he had a mental age of seven, an IQ of between 50 and 60, was highly suggestible and could not have dictated the written admissions allegedly attributed to him by the police. On May 23, 2012 the Northern Ireland court of appeal posthumously quashed McCaul's conviction, ruling it was unsafe because, "In this circumstances the absence of a solicitor or independent adult gives rise to real concerns about the reliability of the admissions. In this circumstances the absence of a solicitor or independent adult gives rise to real concerns about the reliability of the admissions." McCaul's son filed a claim for compensation that was denied by the government of Northern Ireland in 2015 on the basis McCaul had not satisfied his father's convictions were quashed on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact showed, beyond reasonable doubt, a miscarriage of justice had occurred. McCaul appealed. In June 2017 the High Court for Nothern Ireland rejected McCaul's appeal on the basis he did not meet the legal standard for compensation."

Conviction Caused By:

False confession obtained during intense investigation without a lawyer or independent adult present.

Innocence Proved By:

"On May 23, 2012 the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal quashed McCaul's conviction, ruling it was unsafe because, "In this circumstances the absence of a solicitor or independent adult gives rise to real concerns about the reliability of the admissions.""

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Denied in June 2017.

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

16

Age When Released:

18

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Belfast court quashes terror convictions of two men jailed as teenagers, By Owen Bowcott (legal affairs correspondent), May 23, 2012"

Information Location 1:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/may/23/belfast-terror-convictions-quashed-jailed-teenagers

Information Source 2:

"Son of man whose convictions were quashed after his death loses compensation bid, By Staff, The Irish News, June 30, 2017"

Information Location 2:

http://www.irishnews.com/news/2017/07/01/news/son-of-man-whose-convictions-were-quashed-after-his-death-loses-compensation-bid-1072431/

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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