Northern Ireland

Dublin city council calls for release of McConville and Wootton

Brendan McConville is serving a 25-year sentence for the murder of PSNI officer Stephen Carroll
Brendan McConville is serving a 25-year sentence for the murder of PSNI officer Stephen Carroll

DUBLIN City Council has passed a motion calling for the release of two men convicted of murdering PSNI officer Stephen Carroll.

Brendan McConville and John Paul Wootton denied involvement in the Continuity IRA sniper attack that claimed the life of the 48-year-old as he answered an emergency call in Craigavon in March 2009.

McConville is currently serving a 25-year sentence while Wootton was given an 18-year term.

The Court of Appeal in Belfast rejected a challenge by the Craigavon men in 2014, while the Supreme Court in London refused to hear a further appeal last year.

Concerns had been raised about the evidence used to convict pair.

A spokesman for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said the case is currently being reviewed.

The motion at Dublin City Council was tabled by independent councillor Cieran Perry and was agreed without going to a formal vote.

"This is a human rights issue and not one of political ideology,” it said.

“The continued imprisonment of these two men cast a shadow over the judicial system in the six counties."

The men's campaign has in the past has received backing from Gerry Conlon, who was wrongly convicted of the 1974 Guildford pub bombings, while leading English lawyer Michael Mansfield QC has also said he believes they are victims of a miscarriage of justice.