New appeal against sentence for murder of prison officer

Counsel for Christopher Robinson, 51, claimed the minimum 22-year jail term he received for participating in the dissident republican under-car bomb attack in March 2016 should be reduced due to his own adverse personal circumstances.

Arthur Harvey QC said: “The culpability of an individual who is quite literally as damaged as this man cannot be compared to that of a committed individual who is ruthlessly pursuing an objective beyond even just the death of one man, and is doing so objectively, rationally and with determination.”

Mr Ismay, 52, suffered serious leg injuries when the bomb exploded under the van he was driving near his home at Hillsborough Drive in the Castlereagh area of east Belfast.

Despite an apparent initial recovery, the father of three died 11 days later.

Dissident grouping the New IRA claimed responsibility for carrying out the attack on the senior prison officer.

Robinson, from Aspen Walk in Dunmurry, west Belfast, knew Mr Ismay from their time volunteering together for St John Ambulance.

He denied any involvement in the bombing, but at a non-jury trial in 2020 he was found guilty of murder and possessing explosives with intent to endanger life.

Following a previous failed challenge to his murder conviction, Robinson’s legal team returned to the Court of Appeal yesterday in a bid to secure a reduced prison tariff.

Senior judges were told his life has been blighted by depression, alcoholism, post-traumatic stress disorder, hallucinations and repeated suicide attempts.

Based on a psychiatrist’s assessment of his client, Mr Harvey argued: “It’s not just simply that this man was vulnerable to the exploitation of others.

“The exploitation of others was possible because his whole life was fractured as a human being.”

Robinson coped with those issues by locking himself in his house and withdrawing from reality, the court heard.

It was contended that Robinson had not fully appreciated the consequences of his actions “because he could be manipulated and used by others”.

Stressing that Robinson will remain subject to life imprisonment, the barrister pointed out that the tariff only relates to when he may be considered for possible release.

David McDowell, prosecuting, countered that Robinson was held to have been integrally involved in the targeting, planning and carrying out of a terrorist operation which resulted in the prison officer’s death.

“Were it not for him, Mr Ismay would not have been chosen,” he said.

Reserving judgment in the appeal, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan pledged: “We will give a ruling as soon as we can.”