Peter McDonald

Peter McDonald was arrested in the vicinity of an incident in which two shots were fired at an Army Landrover. During three interviews over the next 30 hours he made three confessions. He claimed he asked for but was denied access to a solicitor during questioning. The CCRC concluded there was no evidence from police records or witnesses that he saw a solicitor when in police custody. He also alleged he was physically intimidated by officers. His admissions mentioned being part of an attempt to lure army personnel into a trap, which it appears never occured. The court concluded that the investigators had failed to recognise that this was made up, and that the second and third admissions should have been judged in light of this. The conviction was quashed due to a sense of unease about the reliability of the admissions.

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