THE MOTHER of a Catholic teenager murdered 50 years ago has spoken of her ‘massive relief’ after a bid to overturn the convictions of three men jailed over the killing was dismissed in court.
Teresa Rice, whose 17-year-old son Francis was stabbed to death in Castlewellan in May 1975, was in court on Friday to hear the verdict.
Also in attendance was Eric Cullen, the only surviving member of the so-called Castlewellan Three, who served 14 years in prison for the teen’s murder.
Speaking after the court ruling, Ms Rice said she was relieved to finally have closure five decades on from her son’s murder.
“Today confirms what we have known all along for the past 50 years,” she said.
“This comes as a massive relief for me and my family.
“It’s good that we can now get some long overdue closure.”
Murder
Francis Rice was abducted and stabbed to death in Castlewellan, Co. Down in the early hours of May 18, 1975.
His body was dumped in a laneway, with his murder being claimed by the Protestant Action Force, a cover name used by the UVF.
In 1981, Eric Cullen, his brother Cyril Cullen and George Kirkpatrick were each sentenced to life after being convicted of kidnap, false imprisonment and murder.
The trio claimed they were not involved with loyalist paramilitaries and that signed confessions around which their trial centred had been coerced during police interviews.
Officers involved were later criticised by the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal after it was discovered they had rewritten notes and lied under oath in another Troubles-era murder case.
The Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) subsequently referred the case back to the Court of Appeal after finding ‘compelling evidence that called into question the credibility of investigating officers who questioned the defendants in police custody’.
“The CCRC considered that had the judge been aware of serious concerns regarding the officers’ integrity, this may have resulted in him excluding the alleged admissions from evidence,” said the CCRC.
However, the court dismissed the appeal, stating that a historic conviction rendered unsafe does not mean another case involving the same officers will be overturned.
Applause
Kevin Winters, solicitor for the Rice family, said the ruling was met with a ‘collective relief’ from Mr Rice’s loved ones.
“There was a huge presence of family and their supporters from Castlewellan in the court this morning,” he said.
“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.”