On March 30, 2012, Brendan McConville and John Paul Wootton, were both convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison for the fatal shooting of constable Steven Carroll in Craigavon on 9 March 2010. The case is widely regarded as a blatant miscarriage of justice with ‘evidence’ used inconclusive, contradictory and in places discredited.
Shocking Case Facts
The Crown Star Witness ‘M’ did not come forward for 11 months.
Witness ‘M’ was heavily intoxicated when he contacted the Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI).
Witness ‘M’ was proved to be continuously lying under oath.
Witness ‘M’s ‘eyewitness testimony’ was medically impossible.
Witness ‘M’’s identity hidden from the court preventing proper cross examination.
Witness ‘M’s partner who was with him on the night refuses to corroborate his version of events.
Witness ‘M’ benefitted financially from the PSNI for his involvement.
British Army engaged in evidence tampering, purposely deleting information from a tracking device alleged to have been planted on John Wootton’s car.
The AK-47 used in the killing was recovered, it had a partial fingerprint on the magazine which did not come from Brendan or John.
Prison officers planted ‘evidence’ in Brendan’s cell at Maghaberry and the court tried to use it to blacken his character.
Witness ‘M’s father discredited his son’s testimony by calling him a Walter Mitty and a compulsive liar.
British Justice
The court case was held in a notorious Diplock Court. These courts are non jury and presided over by a single judge. Britain introduced these courts in the north of Ireland to get round ‘jury intimidation’. They have been widely condemned by human rights groups and their main target Irish republicans.
Both of these men find themselves victims of a system that sought to find scapegoats in the wake of a media and political backlash following the killing. It is also part of a ‘justice’ system that regularly abuses Irish republican prisoners as in the continuing use of strip searching and a pernicious practice of internment on remand. The British government is deliberately delaying trials knowing full well that they are innocent. It is a ruse to keep political opposition to British rule off the streets.
We should demand an end to this miscarriage of justice for these two prisoners, as if there hasn’t been enough British miscarriages of justice for Irish people, Guildford 4, Birmingham 6, the Maguire 7, Judith Ward and so on.
The JF2C2 Campaign will be at Downing Street on the 16 May, joining with grassroots campaign Joint Enterprise: Not Guilty by Association (JENgBA). Victoria Station 2pm to Downing St. Be there and show your support.
jftc2.com
