Two Limerick men have lost their appeals against their conviction for the murder of a barman who drowned in his own blood after he was repeatedly kicked in the face during an attempt to rob him of the pub takings.
Raymond Casey, John Carew Park, and Anthony Casey, Mount Pleasant Avenue, Limerick, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Noel Pyper (48), at Newenham Street, Limerick.
Both men - who are not related - were sentenced to life imprisonment when convicted at the Central Criminal Court in January 2002.
That court was told by prosecuting counsel that Mr Pyper had been set upon by two men as he left Noel's Bar in Limerick city centre in the early hours of August 12th, 1997.
His badly beaten body was found behind refuse bins in a laneway off Newenham Street at 8.30 a.m. on August 12th.
Ms Justice McGuinness, presiding and sitting with Mr Justice Herbert and Mr Justice Peart, dismissed the appeals of both on all grounds.