Courts

Late Peter Pringle’s damages claim over quashed conviction and jailing brought to and end

Mr Pringle’s conviction for murder of two gardaí during a bank robbery in 1980 was later deemed unsafe

Mr Pringle had brought two separate actions, including a damages claim, over his conviction and lengthy incarceration

Aodhan O'Faolain
Thu Jun 15 2023 - 19:56

Legal actions brought by the late Peter Pringle against the State over his conviction and 15 years he spent behind bars for crimes for which he was later acquitted have been brought to an end.

The long-running proceedings, the High Court heard on Thursday, were struck out due to Mr Pringle’s death earlier this year. None of his family wished to continue the actions.

Mr Pringle was convicted of the murders of Det Gda John Morley and Gda Henry Byrne during a bank robbery in Ballaghadreen, Co Roscommon, in July 1980.

He was released from prison after his convictions were deemed unsafe and quashed in 1995.

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Mr Pringle had brought two separate actions, including a damages claim, over his conviction and lengthy incarceration.

When the cases were mentioned before Mr Justice Rory Mulcahy on Thursday, senior counsel for Mr Pringle, Paul Carroll, instructed by solicitor Siuna Bartels, said that two actions brought by his late client could be struck out.

Counsel said that following Mr Pringle’s death in January it was not believed that the cases could proceed.

Even if they could, counsel said, no member of Mr Pringle’s family wished to continue the actions.

In the circumstances there was agreement that matters should be brought to a finality, and counsel said that the state was not objecting to the actions being struck out, with no orders being made in respect of the legal costs of the High Court actions.

Counsel said that there were no objections to costs orders made in favour of Mr Pringle by the Court of Appeal, in relation to motions in the case that court had considered, remaining in place.

Robert Barron SC for the State said it was no objecting to what has been proposed by Mr Carroll.

The judge agreed to strike out the cases.

Mr Pringle, who was based in Glenicmurrin Costelloe, Co Galway, was sentenced to death in 1981, following a trial at the Special Criminal Court, for the murder of the two gardaí.

After his convictions were quashed, he brought proceedings against the State including a claim that the State was negligent and breached his constitutional rights because crucial evidence was not disclosed to him prior to his trial at the SCC.

After his death sentence was commuted to 40 years in jail, he served 14 years and 10 months in prison, before the then Court of Criminal Appeal in 1995 found his convictions were unsafe and unsatisfactory.

Two other men were convicted of the murders and were released from prison in 2013.

In 2019 the High Court, following an application by the State, dismissed Mr Pringle’s actions, which originated in the 1990s, on the grounds that he was responsible for inordinate and inexcusable delay in progressing his actions.

The State argued it would be prejudiced by the fact that many relevant witnesses would not be available due to deaths or being untraceable.

Mr Pringle successfully appealed that decision to the Court of Appeal.

In 2022 the COA set aside the High Court’s decision on the basis that a key legal issue in the case that needed to be determined had not been addressed.

The COA remitted the case back to High Court for fresh consideration, where the case remained pending and awaiting a hearing date until Mr Pringle’s death.

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