Court of Appeal hears of 'mystery' disappearance of over 300 items of evidence in murder case

The appeal hearing of Noel Long's murder conviction continues on Thursday

Noel Long, a former British Army soldier with an address at Maulbawn, Passage West, Co Cork, pleaded not guilty to murdering Mrs Sheehan between June 6 and June 12, 1981, at an unknown location within the State. File picture: Collins Courts

The Court of Appeal has been told it is “a mystery” how more than 300 physical exhibits were lost in the investigation into the 1981 murder of Cork woman Nora Sheehan, of which a cold case review ended in the oldest successful murder prosecution in Irish history.

Lawyers for killer Noel Long told the three-judge court that the most significant loss was the remnant of a vaginal swab taken from Mrs Sheehan's body in the wake of the murder.