Murderer who claimed gardai had confession "agenda" fails in appeal

Bryan Ryan (31) of Louisburgh, Co. Mayo, has had his appeal against conviction for murder dismissed by the Court of Appeal. Ryan was convicted in 2013 of the murder of Ian Tobin at Fortlawn Park, Blanchardstown, on May 27, 2007. A jury at the Central Criminal Court returned a majority guilty verdict, and the mandatory life sentence was imposed in March 2013. Ryan's legal team had argued that gardaí possessed "an agenda" to obtain a confession and that admissions made during garda interviews should have been excluded from evidence. Mr Justice George Birmingham, delivering judgment today alongside two other judges, found the trial judge was best positioned to assess these matters and had properly viewed all video evidence. The court upheld the trial judge's findings that Ryan was not oppressed and admissions were not involuntary. The Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction as safe and rejected all grounds of appeal.