Court archive
Different people may share this name. This page collects matching printed names for browsing; it does not establish that these reports concern the same person. Underlying profiles remain separate.
2026-07-23 · Donegal
Alan Vial and Nikita Burns, convicted of the murder of Robert Robin' Wilkin at Sliabh Liag in Donegal, have appealed their convictions to the Court of Appeal. The trial heard that the pair allegedly beat Mr Wilkin with a rock and threw his body over the cliffs. Vial's counsel argued that his client was prejudiced by hearing his co-accused's…
2025-03-07 · Donegal
Alan Vial and Nikita Burns were convicted of the murder of Robin Wilkin, 66, at the Central Criminal Court on Thursday following a two-month trial. Mr Justice Paul McDermott imposed the mandatory life sentence on each defendant yesterday. Vial, aged 39, from Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, and Burns, aged 23, of Carrick, County Donegal, had both…
2025-03-06 · Glenties, Donegal
Alan Vial and Nikita Burns have been found guilty of murdering 66-year-old Robert Wilkin at the Central Criminal Court. The jury returned majority verdicts of ten to two against each accused. Wilkin's body was discovered in the sea below Sliabh Liag cliffs in County Donegal on June 25, 2023, eight days after his death. The trial heard that Wilkin…
2025-03-04 · Killybegs, Donegal
A jury has begun deliberations in the Central Criminal Court in the murder trial of two Co Donegal residents. Alan Vial, aged 39, from Drumanoo Head in Killybegs, and Nikita Burns, aged 23, from Carrick, have each pleaded not guilty to the murder of Robert Robin Wilkin on 25 June 2023. The 66-year-old's body was discovered at Sliabh Liag. The…
2025-02-27 · Donegal
At the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Paul McDermott has warned the jury that it would be dangerous to rely on the testimony of Alan Vial, who has implicated his co-accused Nikita Burns in the death of Robert Wilkin. Both deny murdering the 66-year-old man, whose body was discovered in the sea near Sliabh Liag in Donegal on June 33, 2023,…
2025-02-26 · Donegal
At the Central Criminal Court, closing arguments concluded in the trial of two people charged with the murder of Robert Robin Wilkin near Sliabh Liag in County Donegal on 25 June 2023. Nikita Burns (23) of Carrick and Alan Vial (39) of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, have both pleaded not guilty to the charge. Defence counsel for Ms Burns contended she…
2025-02-25 · Donegal
At the Central Criminal Court, the prosecution has described Alan Vial, aged 39, of Killybegs, County Donegal, as a "cynical liar" who fabricated his account to evade responsibility for the death of 66-year-old Robert Robin' Wilkin. Bernard Condon SC, prosecuting, told the jury that Mr Vial claimed his co-accused Nikita Burns, aged 23, of…
2025-02-24 · Donegal
At the Central Criminal Court, the State Pathologist gave evidence in the trial of two individuals charged with the murder of a man alleged to have been pushed from Sliabh Liag cliffs in County Donegal in June 2023. Dr Margaret Bolster told the court that two skull fractures identified on the deceased would not have caused immediate death if they…
2025-02-14 · Donegal
The trial of Alan Vial and Nikita Burns at the Central Criminal Court has been adjourned for ten days to allow legal representatives to address an outstanding matter. Both defendants deny murdering Robert Robin Wilkin, whose body was discovered in the sea below Sliabh Liag in Donegal in July 2023, eight days after his alleged death on 25 June. Mr…
2025-02-12 · Donegal
Alan Vial, aged 39, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, County Donegal, denied during cross-examination at the Central Criminal Court that he fabricated allegations against his co-accused to evade responsibility for the death of Robert Robin Wilkin, aged 66. Mr Vial, who has pleaded not guilty to murder, maintains he did not strike the deceased with a…
2025-02-10 · Killybegs, Donegal
A 39-year-old man accused of murder has testified at the Central Criminal Court that his co-accused struck the alleged victim with a rock, causing the pensioner's death. Alan Vial, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, County Donegal, told the court he was physically struggling with Robert Robin Wilkin when Nikita Burns hit Mr Wilkin on the back of the…
2025-02-07 · Donegal
A geologist has given evidence at the Central Criminal Court that a bloodied rock allegedly used in the murder of a pensioner near Sliabh Liag in Donegal was most likely transported to the scene by human activity rather than occurring naturally there. Dr Sophie O'Connor of the Geological Survey Ireland told the trial she used Google Street View…
2025-02-06 · Donegal
At the Central Criminal Court, a witness told how he harboured growing concerns about his sister's wellbeing in the period preceding an alleged murder in Donegal. The brother of Nikita Burns said he was worried that she had ceased taking prescribed medication for her bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety, and that she appeared to be consuming…
2025-02-04 · Donegal
Alan Vial, aged 39, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, County Donegal, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Robert Robin Wilkin, a 66-year-old pensioner, on 25 June 2023 in Donegal. Mr Wilkin's body was recovered eight days later in the sea below Sliabh Liag cliffs. During interview at Ballyshannon Garda Station, Mr Vial acknowledged a physical…
2025-01-28 · Donegal
A 3.5-kilogramme rock recovered from the Sliabh Liag cliffs near Killybegs contained hundreds of hairs and extensive bloodstaining consistent with a pensioner's injuries, the Central Criminal Court has heard. Forensic Science Ireland expert Dr Conor Young told the trial that DNA from blood on the rock matched Robert Robin Wilkin, whose body was…
2025-01-27 · Donegal
At the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, the State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster gave evidence in the trial of Nikita Burns, aged 23, of Carrick, County Donegal, and Alan Vial, aged 39, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, County Donegal. Both are charged with the murder of a 66-year-old man on 25 June 2023 in Donegal. Dr Bolster told the court that the…
2025-01-23 · Donegal
At the Central Criminal Court, a jury has viewed CCTV footage documenting the alleged movements of two defendants on the night of a pensioner's death in County Donegal. Nikita Burns, aged 22, of Carrick, and Alan Vial, aged 39, of Killybegs, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Robert Robin Wilkin on 25 June 2023. Mr Wilkin's remains were…
2025-01-22 · Donegal
A pensioner had engaged in an aggressive altercation with the man accused of his murder just three days before he was allegedly beaten with a rock and thrown from Ireland's highest cliffs, the Central Criminal Court heard today. Bruce Vial, brother of the accused Alan Vial, testified that on 22 June 2023 the defendant and his co-accused Nikita…
2025-01-21 · Killybegs, Donegal
At the Central Criminal Court, a witness has testified that a woman accused of murdering a 66-year-old man told him she had "battered" the victim with a rock and "liked it". Chris Quinn recalled that Nikita Burns, aged 23 of Carrick, County Donegal, arrived at his home around midnight on the night after the alleged offence in June 2023. She told…
2025-01-17 · Ardara, Donegal
The Central Criminal Court trial has heard that it remains unknown whether a 66-year-old man was deceased when he was allegedly thrown from Sliabh Liag cliffs in Donegal in June 2023. Nikita Burns, aged 22, of Carrick, County Donegal, and Alan Vial, aged 39, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, County Donegal, deny murder. Burns has pleaded guilty to…
2025-01-16 · Donegal
A jury of five men and seven women has been sworn in at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin to hear the trial of Alan Vial and Nikita Burns, who are charged with the murder of Robert Wilkin on 25 June 2023 in County Donegal. Ms Burns, from Carrick, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to impeding the apprehension or prosecution of another…