THE Courts Martial Appeal Court yesterday ordered a new trial for two soldiers who were convicted of stealing a machine gun and delivering it to a warring faction in Lebanon.
The court ruled counsel acting for the co-accused should have been allowed to cross examine confession statements alleged to have been made by them during the 43 day court martial which concluded on February 2nd, 1995.
Pte Dominic Finn and Pte John Mulraney were found guilty of stealing and delivering a Browning 0.5 heavy machine gun to warring locals on April 14th, 1993, while on duty at a Unifil post in Lebanon. They were discharged from the Defence Forces and sentenced to three years penal servitude. Their sentences have now been quashed as a result of the appeal.
During the court martial both soldiers strongly contested the admissibility of confessional statements made to military police in December 1993.