Manslaughter charge quashed as appeal judge orders retrial

THE Court of Criminal Appeal has quashed the manslaughter conviction of Co Mayo farmer Padraig Nally and ordered a retrial.

Mr Nally was jailed for six years last November for shooting dead a Traveller on his land in 2004.

The appeal court ruled that the jury at Mr Nally’s trial should have been allowed to consider the full defence of self-defence and that it was a matter for the jury to decide whether the force used by Mr Nally was reasonable and whether to return an acquittal.