Prison officer’s killer fails in bid to overturn murder conviction

The Court of Appeal dismissed Christopher Robinson’s challenge to a verdict that he participated in the deadly under car bomb attack on Adrian Ismay in March 2016.

Internet searches about the victim and the magnetic qualities of aluminium formed part of a compelling circumstantial case that he participated in the plot, senior judges ruled.

Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan held that Robinson’s own actions “amply demonstrate a sinister and evil purpose”.

She said: “The evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the appellant was intimately and inextricably involved in the facilitation and execution of a terrorist operation which involved the attachment of a viable improvised device to the underside of Mr Ismay’s vehicle with the intention of causing the death of Mr Ismay or causing him really serious injury.”

The victim, a 52-year-old father of three, 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, he died 11 days later.

Dissident republican grouping the New IRA claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

Robinson, from Aspen Walk in Dunmurry, denied involvement in the killing of Mr Ismay - who he knew from their time volunteering together for St John Ambulance.

But following a non-jury trial last year he was found guilty of murder and possessing explosives with intent to endanger life. A minimum 22-year sentence was imposed.

A circumstantial case against him involved CCTV footage of a Citroen C3 car - registered in the name of a relative - used to transport the bomb.

Robinson’s DNA was found on the edge of a poppy appeal sticker recovered from a rubbish bin at the vehicle owner’s home.

The Remembrance Day emblem was said to have been put on the windscreen of the C3 in a cynical ploy to ensure the car would not appear out of place in east Belfast.

However, Robinson’s legal team challenged findings that the label was attached to the vehicle.

They argued that inferences were wrongly made, allowing a “false logic” to develop which distorted other evidence in the case.

But the prosecution maintained that the DNA linked the accused to the Citroen on the night the bomb was planted.

Facebook postings about republican terrorism were cited as a further strand of the evidence against him.

The court also heard Robinson’s phone had been switched off in a bid to hinder detection of his movements, and that he lied about his whereabouts that night.

Ruling on the appeal, Dame Siobhan said the trial judge was correct on the inferences drawn from all available material.

“There are very compelling stands of circumstantial evidence to consider, particularly those associated with the internet searches relating to Mr Ismay, the search relating to Tesco Castlereagh opening hours and the search regarding the magnetic qualities of aluminium,” she said.

Robinson’s own sympathies with militant Irish republicanism also gained more significance because the murder was a terrorist attack.

Declaring his convictions to be safe, the Lady Chief Justice added: “In our view it is simply beyond credulity that all of this evidence can be explained by coincidence.

“In truth, the numerous strands collectively point to only one conclusion in this case.

Accordingly, the elements of the offences of which the appellant was convicted namely murder and causing an explosion with intent to endanger life were established.”