Two former lovers who knocked a man unconscious or dead with a rock before throwing his body off a near-2,000ft cliff have appealed against their murder convictions. Alan Vial, 41, and Nikita Burns, 25, were found guilty of the murder of 66-year-old Robert 'Robin' Wilkin last year after a trial at the Central Criminal Court in Ireland.
Details of the killing
The court heard that the three had been drinking together on June 25, 2023, in several places around Donegal in northwest Ireland. As Vial drove them along a country road towards Killybegs, a fight broke out. Mr Wilkin was either killed or knocked unconscious when he received two blows to the back of his head with a rock. Vial and Burns then drove to the top of the highest cliffs in Ireland at Sliabh Liag in Donegal and threw his body over the edge.
Vial and Burns later crashed the car which, despite their efforts to clean it, had blood stains all over the roof, raising the suspicions of the Gardai. Gardai arrested Vial for drunk driving and seized the car. Meanwhile, Burns went to a friend's house and told several people that she and Vial had 'battered' a man with a rock and threw him over the cliffs, according to the Irish Mirror. Burns later spoke on the phone to Sharon O'Dowd, who recorded the conversation. The recording revealed Burns saying that they had 'beat some man's head in' and that Vial had dragged him out of the car and 'started caving his head in'.
Appeal arguments
Shane Costelloe SC, for Vial, told the three-judge Court of Appeal that his client was 'prejudiced in the eyes of the trial jury' when they heard various admissions that Burns made. He said the pair should have been tried separately so that the jury would not have heard her blaming Vial for the fatal blows. Mr Costelloe accepted that the trial judge, Mr Justice Paul McDermott, had been careful to warn the jury that they were not allowed to use the statements of one accused as evidence against the other. However, he said that the jury would have been 'overwhelmed' by the 'sheer emotional negativity' of the prejudicial material. According to Mr Costelloe, Vial accepts he was present when Mr Wilkin was killed and that he helped send the victim over the cliffs. Vial denies striking Mr Wilkin, with no independent evidence beyond the statements of Burns that he was responsible.
Eoin Lawlor SC, for Burns, said the statements made by his client incriminating herself were not voluntary and should not have been heard by the jury. She was, he said, intoxicated at the time and there was a question over whether she was in her rational mind. Bernard Condon SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said for Vial's appeal to be successful, he would have to show that the refusal to hold separate trials had amounted to a miscarriage of justice. There was ample evidence to prove Vial's guilt regardless of anything his co-accused said. Mr Condon said the appellant had failed to prove there was a miscarriage of justice and described the judge's charge to the jury as 'impeccable'. In relation to Burns, Mr Condon said statements made by accused people to other private citizens are always relevant and admissible. The law allows for involuntary statements to be ruled inadmissible to protect people from the power of the State, but no such protection exists for people engaged in conversations in the private sphere.
Reserved judgment
Burns, of Carrick, County Donegal, and Vial, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, were present in court for the hearing. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, sitting with Ms Justice Tara Burns and Mr Justice Charles Meenan, reserved judgment, meaning they have postponed their final decision to a later date. Mr Wilkin's body was recovered by the Irish Coast Guard from the sea eight days after Vial and Burns killed him. State pathologist Dr Margareta Bolster was unable to identify a cause of death due to 'predator damage and decomposition'. She noted multiple fractures to Mr Wilkin's face but could not say which had been caused by the fall from the cliff and which related to a prior assault. Two fractures were identified to the back of Mr Wilkin's head which were 'entirely consistent' with a blow from a bloody rock found by police officers at the top of the cliffs. DNA testing showed blood and hairs on the rock belonged to Mr Wilkin.
At trial, Vial took the stand to blame his co-accused for inflicting the two blows to the back of Mr Wilkin's head. He claimed he had failed to tell Gardai about what his co-accused did because he had feelings for her. In her Garda interviews, Burns blamed Vial and denied striking Mr Wilkin. She said her admissions to Mr Quinn and others were 'exaggeration' and said she had not wanted Vial to take all the blame. However, the jury accepted the prosecution's case that they were part of a joint enterprise to cause serious injury to Mr Wilkin and therefore were both guilty of murder.
