Stephen McCaul
Years in prison:
2
Year of crime:
1979
Year conviction was overturned:
2012
Stephen McCaul was convicted of terrorism-related charges based on a confession when he was 16. McCaul. He was questioned for 52 hours without a lawyer or an independent adult present. The trial judge discounted evidence on suggestibility of McCaul, instead relying on evidence from the police. McCaul, who was found by a consultant psychiatrist to have a mental age of 7, began a legal challenge to his conviction but died before his appeal was heard. His father continued his appeal, and the conviction was quashed since the absence of a solicitor or independent adult was said to “give rise to real concerns about the reliability of the admissions.”
View Press (www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk)
< Back to Case Search < Back to Overview Graph- Offence: Robbery / burglary
- Jurisdiction: Northern Ireland
- County: Unknown
- Ethnicity: White
- Gender: M
- Years in prison: 2
- Offence convicted of: Arson, burglary, carrying a firearm with intent, hijaking, possession of firearms
- Year of crime: 1979
- Year of initial conviction: 1979
- Year conviction was overturned: 2012
- Age when imprisoned: 16
- CCRC Referral: Y
- Tried with others: Y
- Link to full case: Not available
- Type of fresh evidence at appeal: Evidence undermining the reliability of a confession
- Compensation: Unknown
- Crown argued case at CofA: Unknown
- Retrial: Unknown
- Previous appeals: Unknown