Murderer who claimed gardai had confession "agenda" fails in appeal

Bryan Ryan, aged 31 and from Louisburgh in County Mayo, has failed in his appeal against a murder conviction at the Court of Appeal. Ryan was convicted in 2013 of murdering Ian Tobin at Fortlawn Park in Blanchardstown on May 27, 2007. A Central Criminal Court jury returned a majority guilty verdict, and he was sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment in March 2013. The appeal, heard in December 2015, centred on Ryan's challenge to the admissibility of confessions made during garda interviews. His legal representatives argued that gardaí had pursued an improper agenda to obtain a confession by questionable means, including alleged misrepresentation of the law on manslaughter and overstating available evidence. The defence submitted that Ryan's confession was unreliable, particularly given that he had admitted to burning motorcycle parts and clothing that forensic analysis did not corroborate. Ryan's counsel also contended that alleged constitutional breaches during interviews could not be adequately remedied through a subsequent conversation with his solicitor. Delivering judgment on May 12th, Mr Justice George Birmingham, sitting with two colleagues, found that the trial judge had been in the best position to assess these matters and had properly reviewed all video evidence from the interviews. The court upheld the trial judge's findings that Ryan had not been oppressed and that any admissions made were voluntary. The Court of Appeal accordingly affirmed the conviction as safe and rejected all grounds of appeal. This represents Ryan's second conviction for the offence; a conviction returned in 2008 had previously been quashed. He has pleaded not guilty throughout the proceedings.