A message to the CCRC from Brendan McConville, one of the Craigavon Two: JUSTICE WILL BE HEARD!

Brendan McConville, Maghaberry Prison

Like the many, many, other victims of miscarriage of justice who have been failed by a corrupt criminal justice system, I also find myself trapped in the endless abyss of CCRC procrastination.

All wrongly convicted prisoners and exonerees, along with their families, supporters and campaigners will recognise the cautious feelings of hope and expectations that are part and parcel of the emotional build-up to the long awaited quarterly case review update letter, the arrival of which is more often than that followed by disappointment and then renewed determination to keep going.

To say that the wheels of justice turn slowly within the CCRC would be an understatement, as they strive to make a mole hill out of an enormous mountain.

In fact, for many victims of wrongful conviction like myself, it appears that our cases have been frozen in time, only inching forward at a truly glacial velocity.

This sloth like pace of the seemingly reluctant case reviewers servers only to increase the unlikelihood of the wrongly convicted ever obtaining justice, as potential witnesses grow older and memories of event fade with the passage of time.

My own application for review was received by the CCRC on the 30th of March 2017. Over three years of continuous foot dragging by the Commission later, I was informed that the CCRC had decided not to refer my conviction to the court of appeal, following what appeared to be superficial review which closer resembled a rewriting of my original no jury verdict.

I immediately signalled my intention to challenge the numerous inaccuracies in the decision, and while in the process of preparing further submissions, my case took a dramatic turn when it came to light around August 2020 that a member of the justice for the Craigavon Two committee was, in fact, an MI5 agent. He was intercepting legal professional privileged information given to the families at private meetings in my parents’ home, in clear breach of my Article 6 right to a fair trial.

This shock revelation represented the existence of the all too often illusive new evidence that the CCRC always demand, yet seem extremely reluctant to search for themselves.

Since submitting my response to the CCRC 2020 decision not to refer my case to the court of appeal, I am still waiting for a reply.

It has been over 7 years since my application was received by the CCRC and my family and I are still in limbo.

Perhaps, it is believed by some that are demands for justice will diminish with the passing of time, if that is the case they really don't understand the concept they purport to practise.

Justice will never be silenced, nor buried, it will cry out from behind the prison walls and beyond the grave if necessary.

JUSTICE WILL BE HEARD!

Thank you all for support and solidarity,

Brendan McConville

Maghaberry Prison