Peter Pringle opposes dismissal bid over quashed murder conviction

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

Peter Pringle opposed the State’s application to dismiss his damages claim over a murder conviction that was quashed in 1995. The High Court proceedings opened on 31 January 2018.

Pringle was convicted in 1980 by the Special Criminal Court of murdering gardaí John Morley and Henry Byrne during a bank robbery in Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon, in July that year. He was sentenced to death, later commuted to 40 years’ imprisonment. He served 14 years and ten months before the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed his conviction as unsafe and unsatisfactory.

In his damages action, Pringle claims the State was negligent and breached his constitutional rights by failing to disclose crucial evidence before his trial. The State sought dismissal on grounds including delay, saying some witnesses had died, others were difficult to locate and many could no longer recall events accurately. Pringle denied delay on his part and said the State had caused any delay.

Pringle also sought documents concerning DNA analysis. In 2003, the State told his lawyers that a match provided strong support for the proposition that hair recovered from a car used in the robbery came from him. Pringle said the testing was an attempt by certain State employees to frame him and believed the report was intended to stop his claim. The State denied his claims about the report and opposed discovery.

The hearing before Ms Justice Carmel Stewart was continuing.