RK and LM remain acquitted of IRA membership

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

RK and LM remained acquitted of membership of an unlawful organisation after the Court of Appeal dismissed the prosecution appeal on 21 December 2021. Their trial took place in the Special Criminal Court in connection with the murder of Peter Butterly in Gormanston, County Meath.

The appeal followed directed verdicts of not guilty on 5 December 2019, after the trial court excluded belief evidence from Detective Chief Superintendent Howard. The Court of Appeal found that the evidence had been wrongly excluded but held that a retrial would not serve the interests of justice.