A man convicted of murdering Patricia Curran 45 years ago, the daughter of a Northern Ireland judge, said yesterday: "I am innocent - 200 per cent." Iain Hay Gordon (66) said outside the Court of Appeal in Belfast: "I never had anything to do with the murder of Patricia Curran. I am fighting to clear my name and I will never give up until I do."
Gordon was a 20-year-old RAF national serviceman stationed near the Curran home at Whiteabbey, Co Antrim, when he was found guilty but insane of murdering Patricia Curran, daughter of the late Lord Justice Lancelot Curran.
Gordon spent eight years in a mental hospital before being secretly released. Ever since he has campaigned to clear his name but earlier this year suffered a setback when the Criminal Cases Review Commission refused to investigate his case. It ruled that the verdict of guilty but insane was technically an acquittal with no right of appeal.
Yesterday Gordon's counsel, Sir Louis Blom Cooper QC, said it was absurd that Gordon could be denied the right to appeal. He referred to a change in the law in 1961 which altered the verdict to "not guilty by reason of insanity" which could be appealed.
The Lord Chief Justice, Sir Robert Carswell, said yesterday the bench wished to consider the arguments over the right to appeal and reserved judgment.