Lee Clegg

Years in prison:
4
Year of crime:
1990
Year conviction was overturned:
1998

Lee Clegg was a British soldier who was convicted of murder for his involvement in the shooting of a teenage joyrider in Belfast.The shooting took place in Belfast in 1990. Clegg and his fellow soldiers manning a checkpoint fired shots at a stolen car. Clegg fired four bulletts, the last of which killed the 18-year-old passenger, Karen Reilly. The cort decided that lethal force had been used without a lawful purpose and convicted Clegg of murder. On appeal, the court quashed the conviction on the grounds of new evidence suggesting that the fourth bullet entered the side of the car. A retrial was ordered and Clegg was cleared of murder, but a conviction of attempting to wound the driver of the car was upheld. This lesser conviction was quashed at a later appeal, owing to uncertainty over the accuracy of evidence relating to when the bulletts were shot.

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  • Offence: Murder
  • Jurisdiction: Northern Ireland
  • County: Belfast 
  • Ethnicity: White
  • Gender: M
  • Years in prison: 4
  • Offence convicted of: Murder and unlawful wounding with intent
  • Year of crime: 1990
  • Year of initial conviction: 1993
  • Year conviction was overturned: 1998
  • Age when imprisoned: 23
  • CCRC Referral: N
  • Tried with others: Unknown
  • Link to full case: Not available
  • Compensation: No
  • Crown argued case at CofA: Yes
  • Retrial: Yes
  • Previous appeals: Unknown