A south Armagh man has been acquitted of the murder of a Newry postal worker who was shot during an IRA robbery in 1994.
Giving his judgment at Belfast Crown Court following a lengthy non-jury trial, Mr Justice Fowler found James Seamus Fox not guilty of murdering Francis Kerr on November 10 1994.
Mr Fox, who is 67 and from Carewamean Road in Jonesborough, was also acquitted of charges of robbery, possessing a firearm and belonging to the IRA on the same date.
Seamus Fox leaves Belfast Crown Court to be greeted by friends and relatives after being acquitted of murdering postal worker Frank Kerr during an IRA robbery in Newry in 1994 (Alan Lewis – Photopress Belfast/Photopress Belfast)
In his ruling, Mr Justice Fowler said Mr Kerr was murdered “while he, with considerable courage and fortitude, resisted the terrorists”.
Mr Fox was charged with four offences in 2019 when the PSNI re-examined items connected with the incident.
These includes a postal worker’s uniform recovered from a vehicle seven miles from the sorting office.
Mr Fox’s DNA was located and it was the Crown’s case that he was wearing the items including a cap and was part of the gang who carried out the armed robbery and murder of Mr Kerr.
Whilst the Crown’s case was circumstantial, prosecutors asked Mr Justice Fowler to consider other evidence including the accused’s ‘bad character.’
The defence argued that the only way the prosecution could establish Mr Fox was present at the murder was by forensically putting him into the uniform recovered from the vehicle.
Murdered postal worker Frank Kerr (Alan Lewis – Photopress Belfast/Photopress Belfast)
The DNA evidence was branded weak by the defence, whilst criticisms were also made of the forensic examination of the scene in 1994 and potential contamination of DNA evidence.
In addition, eyewitnesses at the scene of the robbery and murder gave descriptions of the gang, none of which matched Mr Fox.
Mr Justice Fowler said he was satisfied Mr Fox’s DNA was found inside the cap.
But he said: “There remains a reasonable possibility that the defendant’s DNA came to be present on the cap by potentially secondary or tertiary transfer rather than wearing the hat during the robbery.”
Frank Kerr was killed during a robbery in Newry in November 1994
The judge added there was evidence than “points away” from Mr Fox’s involvement, such as him not fitting the description of any of the gang.
Mr Justice Fowler concluded that whilst the circumstantial evidence “may create suspicion” of Mr Fox’s involvement, he said “no matter how strong the suspicion, it is not sufficient to establish proof beyond reasonable doubt and is insufficient to pursue me beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant was present on the postal premises at the time of the robbery and the murder of Mr Kerr.
“Accordingly I find the defendant not guilty of the counts on the bill of indictment.”