Ronan Bennett

Years in prison:
1
Year of crime:
1974
Year conviction was overturned:
1975

Ronan Bennett was convicted of the murder of police officer, Inspector William Elliot during an IRA bank robbery. Bennett was convicted in a no-jury Diplock court based on eyewitness evidence. On appeal, the conviction was found to be unsafe as it was based on the evidence of one witness who changed her account multiple times. The court found that the evidence of identification was unsatisfactory and on that basis quashed the conviction.

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  • Offence: Murder
  • Jurisdiction: Northern Ireland
  • County: Belfast 
  • Ethnicity: White
  • Gender: M
  • Years in prison: 1
  • Offence convicted of: Murder
  • Year of crime: 1974
  • Year of initial conviction: 1974
  • Year conviction was overturned: 1975
  • Age when imprisoned: 18
  • CCRC Referral: N
  • Tried with others: N
  • Link to full case: Not available
  • Type of fresh evidence at appeal: Evidence relating to the reliability of witness testimony
  • Compensation: Unknown
  • Crown argued case at CofA: Unknown
  • Retrial: Unknown
  • Previous appeals: Unknown