Ex-Ireland rugby player has child sex abuse conviction quashed

Former Ireland rugby international David Tweed has had his convictions for child sex abuse quashed at the Court of Appeal in Belfast.

Tweed (57), of Clonavon Terrace, Ballymena, Co Antrim, is to be released from custody where he has been serving an eight-year prison sentence.

With the issue of a possible retrial still to be decided, no further details can be given for legal reasons.

In 2012, a jury found Tweed guilty of 13 counts of indecent assault, gross indecency with a child and inciting gross indecency with a child.

Following submissions by Tweed's legal team, Lord Justice Gillen told the court: "We are going to quash the convictions in this matter...We will give our reasons in writing for doing so shortly."

Tweed was capped four times for Ireland after making his international debut against France in the 1995 Five Nations championship. He was also part of Ireland's squad at the Rugby World Cup in South Africa and made more than 30 appearances for Ulster.

A former member of the Orange Order, he served as a councillor in Ballymena for the Democratic Unionist Party and later the Traditional Unionist Voice.

Tweed was brought into court by prison guards but at the end of the case, Lord Justice Gillen said: “There’s no reason why he shouldn’t be free as soon as possible.”