Truth and Justice For Patrick Docherty

Christmas time is the most difficult for people in prison. It iseven more difficult when you have evidence of innocence like thesepeople below.

We can help brighten a prisoners day bysending a card to them to let them know that they are not forgotten bypeople on the outside world.  

Below is a small list ofprisoners whom I am sure would appreciate a bit of Christmas Cheer. Ifanyone has any other names and addresses to add please post them hereor send me a private message.

Mr William Gage

2319

C3/15

HMP Shotts

Lanarkshire

ML7 4LE

Mr Patrick Docherty

17841

Forth A32

HMP Addiwell

Station Road

Addiwell

West Lothian

EH55 8QA

Mr Nat Fraser

Cell 3/08

47143 C / Hall

HMPrison

Perth

PH2 8FT

Mr Brendan Dixon 14854

HMP Dumfries

Terreagles Street

Dumfries

DG29AX

Mr Luke Mitchell

HMPrison

Perth

PH2 8FT

Two men challenging their conviction for the murder of an elderly woman during a botched robbery will have to wait for a decision by appeal judges.

Patrick Docherty, 45,and 40-year-old Brendan Dixon were ordered to serve at least 25 yearsfor killing Margaret Irvine in Galston, Ayrshire, in 2003.

Both men allege they did not receive a fair trial.

Lady Paton said it was "a difficult and delicate case" and a ruling would be issued in writing at a later date.

The original trial heard that Docherty and Dixon broke into Mrs Irvine's home on Barward Road, switched off the electricity andstruggled with the pensioner.

They then tied her hands behind her back with a belt and punched her on the head and body.

Mrs Irvine died of asphyxiation after a duster was forced into her mouth.

She was found lying on her bed by her home-help hours after she was murdered on 28 September, 2003.

“ There has been a miscarriage of justice because that evidence was not placed before the jury ”

Gordon Jackson QC Both men lodged special defences of alibi and claimed they were elsewhere at the time of the murder.

But a jury at the High Court in Kilmarnock found them guilty of murder.

At the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh they claimed they did not get a fair trial because the jury did not get to hear about the sighting of a tattooed man in Mrs Irvine's garden on the Sunday she was murdered.

The man, Peter Fraser, had a history of violence and drug abuse.

'Circumstantial case'

Restaurant worker Sheena Orr who had been passing the house was not called as a witness at the original trial.

Docherty's legal team said that since then it had emerged that there isa 16-hour gap in the alibi offered by Mr Fraser when he was interviewedby police and eliminated from the murder hunt.

Gordon Jackson QC, for Docherty, said: "There has been a miscarriage of justice because that evidence was not placed before the jury."

Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, for the Crown, saidthe two men had been convicted on the basis of "a classic circumstantial case."

He claimed police had disclosed to the men's defence lawyers everything they were obliged to hand over, and he said the sighting of the tattooed man "did not amount to new evidence of anymateriality".

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8343205.stm

Two men have launched an appeal against their convictions for murdering a 91-year-old woman during a botched robbery at her home in Ayrshire.

Patrick Docherty, 45, and 40-year-old Brendan Dixon were ordered to serve at least 25 years for killing Margaret Irvine in Galston, Ayrshire, in 2003.

Both men allege they did not receive a fair trial.

The hearing at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh is expected to last three days.

The original trial heard that Docherty and Dixon broke into Mrs Irvine's home on Barward Road, switched off the electricity and struggled with the pensioner.

There has been a miscarriage of justice because that evidence was not placed before the jury Gordon Jackson QC

They then tied her hands behind her back with a belt and punched her on the head and body.

Mrs Irvine died of asphyxiation after a duster was forced into her mouth.

She was found lying on her bed by her home-help hours after she wasmurdered on 28 September, 2003. Both men lodged special defences of alibi and claimed they were elsewhere at the time of the murder.

But a jury at the High Court in Kilmarnock found them guilty of murder.

Jailing the pair for life, Judge Lord Hardie said the "wickedly reckless and truly evil" crime was "beyond the comprehension of all decent people".

Docherty's defence QC Gordon Jackson told the Court of Criminal Appeal that the  trial four years ago might have had a different outcome if the jury had known about the sighting of a tattooed man in Mrs Irvine's garden on the day of the murder.

He said the man, Peter Fraser, had a history of violence and drug abuse.

'Tactical value'

Mr Jackson also said restaurant worker Sheena Orr, who had been passing the house, was not called as a witness at the trial.

Docherty's legal team said that since the trial it had emerged that there was a16-hour gap in the alibi offered by Mr Fraser when he was interviewed by police and eliminated from the murder hunt.

Mr Jackson told judges Lady Paton, sitting with Lords Mackay of Drumadoon and Carloway that police had not turned over all their material about the sighting to the defence.

"I would find that tactically of value in defending this man before a jury and I would have used it," said the lawyer.

"There has been a miscarriage of justice because that evidence was not placed before the jury."

Both men also claim that the prosecution's circumstantial case in which there was no DNA link and no confessions should not have led to guilty verdicts.

They also criticise remarks made by Lord Hardie when directing the jury on points of law.

Oct 9 2009 by Colin Rutherford, Kilmarnock Standard

THECourt of Appeal will next month consider the case of the two men convicted of the 2003 murder of Galston pensioner Margaret Irvine. A three-day appeal court hearing has been set for November 3, 4 and 5. BrendanDixon, 40, and Patrick Docherty, 45, claim that they were wrongly convicted at the High Court in Kilmarnock in March 2005. Dixon,of Kilmarnock, and Docherty, of Dalmellington, were jailed for a minimum of 25 years in March 2005 after a jury at the High Court in Kilmarnock found them guilty of murdering widow Margaret Irvine, 91, inher home in Barward Road. Their appeal alleges that the trial judge wrongly refused a submission that there was no case to answer and misdirected the jury on several points of law.

Mrs Irvine was found dead in her bedroom by her carer at 4.50pm on September 18, 2003. She had been gagged and had her hands tied behind her back with a belt. The cause of death was found to be asphyxia, caused by a duster which had been placed in her mouth. She was last seen alive by her carer at 7am the same day. During the trial a number of witnesses gave evidence about conversations with Docherty or Dixon, during which they had admitted taking part in the bungled robbery. According to the witnesses, neither confessed to the murder, but each was alleged to have blamed the other.