PPS Collapse 1970s Legacy Prosecution – Lawyers to Seek Access to PPS and PONI Papers
Harte Coyle Collins, Solicitors & Solicitor Advocates, act on behalf of Mr Gerry McGowan. Mr McGowan was the victim and Complainant in respect of the only legacy prosecution before the Northern Ireland courts arising from police conduct in the 1970s. Mr McGowan was informed at a consultation with the Public Prosecution Service on Thursday 18th December 2014 that the PPS intended to offer no evidence against 2 retired RUC officers who were alleged to have perverted the course of justice by coercing false confessions during a 1979 RUC investigation into the murder of Lt Stephen Kirby in Derry. The trial in the case had been fixed for February 2015 in Belfast Crown Court.
