The Court of Criminal Appeal has overturned the conviction and 11-year sentence on armed robbery charges of a Cork man, Mr Kenneth Allen. A retrial was ordered.
The three-judge appeal court quashed the conviction on grounds raised by Mr Allen in relation to the use of DNA evidence in the trial. Mr Allen had argued he had at least one brother who had been convicted of criminal offences and that the probability of similarity of DNA evidence between siblings was significantly less than in the case of unrelated persons.
Mr Allen (34), of Cushin Place, Farrranree, Cork, was freed on bail pending his retrial. He was convicted in May 2002 of armed robbery and possession of a firearm with intent to commit an offence. He was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment on each count, the sentences to run concurrently.
The prosection had alleged that Mr Allen was one of three persons who entered McDonald's restaurant in Douglas, Cork, in the early hours of September 4th, 2000. Gardaí were alerted while the raid was taking place and one of the raiders was arrested on the premises. The other two escaped.
All the raiders were wearing balaclavas. After the raid, items of clothing were found near the premises which the prosecution alleged were discarded after the raid. Among those items was a piece of cloth which it was alleged had been used as a balaclava.
Granting Mr Allen's appeal yesterday, Mr Justice McCracken, presiding and sitting with Mr Justice Kelly and Mr Justice Abbott, said the court had no way of knowing what attitude a jury would have taken had it heard further statistical evidence in relation to DNA profiles among brothers. However, the court felt that the way in which the evidence was presented was such as to render the trial unsafe.