Alan Vial appeals murder conviction after life sentence

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

Alan Vial appealed his murder conviction at the Court of Appeal on 23 July 2026, after receiving a mandatory life sentence at the Central Criminal Court on 7 March 2025. The murder of Robert Wilkin followed an assault near Killybegs, and his body was thrown over the Sliabh Liag cliffs.

Vial argued that testimony about statements made by his co-accused prejudiced the jury and that they should have been tried separately. His counsel, Shane Costelloe, accepted that trial judge Mr Justice Paul McDermott had carefully warned the jury not to use one accused’s statements as evidence against the other. Counsel also accepted Vial was present when Wilkin was killed and helped put the body over the cliffs, but said he denied striking Wilkin. The prosecution argued there was ample evidence of guilt and no miscarriage of justice.