Alan Cawley loses appeal against murder conviction

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Alan Cawley lost his appeal against his murder conviction at the Court of Appeal on 16 December 2019. He had argued that intoxication and mental disorder should both have been considered when the jury assessed his responsibility for the killings in Castlebar.

The appeal court dismissed the challenge, finding no error in the trial judge’s instructions to the jury. Cawley had been convicted of murdering brothers Thomas Blaine and John (Jack) Blaine and received the mandatory life sentence in 2017.