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Historic Conviction upheld in Francis Rice murder case
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Historic Conviction upheld in Francis Rice murder case

17 Jan Historic Conviction upheld in Francis Rice murder case

Posted at 15:20h in Media Archive by

We act on behalf of Teresa Rice, the mother of Francis Rice murdered in Castlewellan County Down in May 1975.

 

Today the court of appeal in Belfast delivered its judgement on the latest appeal by three men two of whom are now deceased. Their appeal was launched on the back of a CCRC referral.

 

It centered on a challenge to the admissibility of confessions made by the three appellants taken from them by officers involved in another case of Latimer and others known as “The UDR Four.”

 

Today the court in dismissing the appeal stated that it was not a given that a historic conviction rendered unsafe does not mean another case will be overturned involving the same discredited officers.

 

Speaking after the court ruling today Teresa Rice said,

 

“Today confirms what we have known all along for the past 50 years. This comes as a massive relief for me and my family. It’s good that we can now get some long overdue closure.”

 

Kevin Winters solicitor for the next of kin stated after court,

 

“There was a huge presence of family and their supporters from Castlewellan in the court this morning. Their massive round of applause delivered immediately after the ruling in court today reflected a collective relief all round. This family have battled for years to make sure and do all they could to preserve this conviction. They felt they owed to Francis and his memory to keep it secure. They want to put on record their thanks to the PPS and the hard work put into contesting this challenge.”