ANGRY scenes erupted in a courtroom after an Oxford teenager was cleared of blasting a man to death with a shotgun and injuring another.
Members of the jury were instructed to find John Purcell, 18, of Bertie Place, Oxford, not guilty following the eight-day murder trial in Northern Ireland.
Mr Purcell had consistently denied two charges of murdering Thomas Doherty at a Belfast travellers camp on July 5 1996 and attempting to murder his brother, Edward Doherty, on June 12 1996.
Yesterday Mr Justice Girvan spent more than an-hour-and-a-half reviewing the evidence before instructing the jury to return a 'not guilty' verdict. Earlier Anthony Cinnamond, QC, defending, had told the court there was no case to answer because of the "absurdities and inconsistencies of the crown evidence".
Following the verdict members of the public yelled "scumbag". One women was so shocked by the verdict that the court could not be cleared until she had been escorted from the courtroom by friends.
Previous news story
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article