Alan Vial and Nikita Burns sentenced for Robert Wilkin murder

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

Alan Vial and Nikita Burns received mandatory life sentences for murdering Robert Wilkin at the Central Criminal Court on 7 March 2025. The murder took place at Sliabh Liag in Donegal on 25 June 2023.

The judge said no other sentence could be imposed in a case of this kind. Vial’s sentence was backdated to 14 July 2023 and Burns’s to 29 August 2023, when each first entered custody.

The jury had found both guilty by a 10–2 majority on 6 March 2025, accepting the prosecution’s case that they acted together to cause serious injury. Their conviction appeals were heard on 23 July 2026, and the Court of Appeal reserved judgment.