Court of Appeal dismisses Dónal Billings’s appeal

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The Court of Appeal dismissed Dónal Billings’s appeal against his convictions, finding that the evidence was sufficient and that his Irish language rights had not been infringed to the extent that the convictions should be quashed. The appeal concerned his claim that those rights were breached during his trial, as well as whether the evidence could support the convictions.

Billings had been convicted of possessing an explosive substance and making four false reports. He received an eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence in 2016. The Court of Appeal’s judgment addressed the conviction appeal.