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Mr Joseph Grogan and Mr Joseph Meleady. Their case has been certified as a miscarriage of justice by The Court of Criminal Appeal. They were convicted in 1985 of assaulting a man and stealing his car. The conviction was quashed in 1995.
Photograph:Ronan Quinlan/Collins |
The Court of Criminal Appeal has certified a miscarriage of justice in the case of the "Tallaght Two".
Today's decision paves the way for the men to pursue a claim for compensation against the State.
Mr Joseph Grogan and Mr Joseph Meleady were jailed for five years after being convicted in 1985 when they were both aged 17 of the assault of Mr Eamon Gavin and causing malicious damage to his car.
They were convicted on the visual identification evidence of Mr Gavin and his son Paul.
The convictions of both men were set aside by the Court of Criminal Appeal in 1995 but it refused to certify a miscarriage of justice on the ground that two newly discovered facts which led to the convictions being quashed were not before the juries at the original trial and retrial. The Supreme Court found that the court had erred in its reason for refusing the certificate and had directed it to rehear the issue.