Judgement reserved in Carroll case

Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan has said that he will reserve judgement in the case of two men appealing convictions for murdering Constable Stephen Carroll.

Both 22-year-old John Paul Wootton, from Colindale in Lurgan and Brendan McConville, 42, of Glenholme Avenue in Craigavon, are serving life sentences. Verdicts would be delievered “as soon as possible,” Sir Declan said.

Constable Carroll, from Banbridge, was shot dead as he responded to a 999 call in Craigavon nearly five years ago.

Defence lawyers claimed the convictions were unsafe and argued that there should not be a retrial, while the evidence of a defence witness in the appeal was “inherently unreliable”, according to the prosecution.

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