Martin Conmey’s manslaughter conviction declared miscarriage of justice

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

Martin Conmey’s manslaughter conviction was declared a miscarriage of justice by the Court of Criminal Appeal on 29 July 2014.

The conviction concerned the 1971 killing of Una Lynskey after she disappeared near her home on Porterstown Lane, Ratoath, Co Meath.

The court said there was no incriminating evidence establishing that Conmey was involved in a joint enterprise. It found that original witness statements favouring him had been suppressed by someone connected with the prosecution.

Conmey had been acquitted of manslaughter in 2010, when the court overturned his conviction after finding that earlier witness statements were not disclosed to the defence and were radically inconsistent with later evidence.

His lawyers were to lodge an application for compensation following the miscarriage-of-justice finding.