Ireland's Minister of Justice Helen McEntee on Tuesday 16 April secured government approval to recommend to President Higgins posthumous presidential pardons for Sylvester Pough and James Barrett.
Poff and Barrett were convicted of the murder of Thomas Brown in October 1882, and both were executed in January 1883.
Ireland's Ministry of Justice said on Tuesday that given the many factors involved in this case, and based on a detailed report received from Dr Niamh Howlin, Minister McEntee and his colleagues in the government have given the president the right to pardon. announced that it had decided to recommend that the exercise be exercised. Their convictions are included in Article 13, Section 6 of the Constitution because they are dangerous.
The ministry noted that granting a presidential pardon is a right that should only be provided in the most appropriate circumstances.
Minister McEntee said on Tuesday: “This is a very rare event and the government would have to reach a very high bar to recommend that the president exercise this right.”
“Given the findings of Dr. Howlin's report, the trials, convictions and executions of Mr. Poff and Mr. Barrett were unjust by the standards of the time.
“Both were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to the harshest penalties under the law at the time, which now appears to be the result of a miscarriage of justice.
“I would like to thank the Michael O’Donoghue Memorial Project at Castle Island District Heritage for their hard work in bringing this matter to my department.”
Details of the case by the Irish Department of Justice
Agitations for land reform were common in Ireland in the 1880s, often leading to agrarian violence with riots over issues such as landlords, evictions, rent strikes, and boycotts known as the Land Wars.
In May 1882, the first secretary, Lord Frederick Cavendish, and the undersecretary, TH Burke, were murdered in Phoenix Park, Dublin. The incident, known as the Phoenix Park Murder, sparked legislative action to address growing agrarian insecurity.
The Crime Prevention Act 1882 (Ireland) (1882 Act) was passed in July 1882 in response to the Phoenix Park murders, and was passed in July 1882 to prevent crimes such as “treason, murder, arson, and assault on houses''. It was a compulsory law to control the and aggravated violent crime. ” Kerry Island and the area around Castle Island in particular was experiencing a great deal of unrest and violence during this period.
On October 3, 1882, Thomas Brown was killed while working in one of the fields at Dromalton, near Scultaglin, County Kerry. Two men in black coats, seen from behind him, shot him several times.
Sylvester Poff and James Barrett did not match the description of the assailants, but were known to be nearby at the time. The two men were arrested after a neighbor said he saw them enter the scene where Brown was shot.
The prosecution case was based primarily on the testimony of a neighbor, but as the case progressed his story changed and he was not considered a reliable witness. Poff and Barrett were tried twice before a special jury in Cork for Brown's murder after jurors could not agree on a verdict in the first trial.
Poff and Barrett were convicted of Brown's murder in December 1882 and, despite pleas for mercy to the lieutenant, were hanged at Tralee Prison in January 1883.
expert report
Dr Niamh Howlin, an expert in 19th century court law and associate professor at UCD Sutherland Law School, was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice to carry out an independent external review of the case and assess the safety of the conviction. gave advice. Or clearly refer to the prevailing standards of the time.
As a result of Dr. Howlin's examination, she concluded that a number of factors, including the investigation and court proceedings, led her to form the opinion that the convictions of Poff and Barrett were unsafe. These factors include a “packed jury,” flaws in the evidence (including contradictory witness testimony), a lack of motive, and the appearance that other investigative items were ignored during the investigation and trial. .
The report further revealed that there was no direct evidence against Poff and Barrett and that the case was based on circumstantial and contradictory evidence from a single witness.
Dr. Howlin concluded his report with the following statement: “A 21st century criminal court would not convict Poff and Barrett on the basis of the evidence presented by the Crown in 1882. The convictions were also inconsistent with the legal standards of the time.
“They were convicted on the basis of circumstantial and weak evidence. The trials and convictions of Poff and Barrett were “highly inconsistent with the legal standards of the time and were objectively unsatisfactory and unsatisfactory. To be fair, it contained legal and procedural deficiencies that “made the conviction dangerous.”
Irish President's posthumous pardon
This is the fourth time a presidential pardon has been granted posthumously. The first posthumous presidential pardon was granted by President Higgins to Harry Gleeson in 2015.
The second posthumous presidential pardon, and the first for events that occurred before the nation's founding, was granted in April 2018 to Miles Joyce, who was found guilty of involvement in the 1882 Ma'amtrasna murders. He was sentenced and executed.
The third posthumous pardon was granted to John Twiss in 2021.
The threshold for recommending a presidential pardon is high, and only seven presidential pardons have been granted since 1937.
