Latimer judgement reserved

Neil Latimer's case was referred to the Appeal Court for a third time

Judgement has been reserved in a former Ulster Defence Regiment soldier's appeal against a murder conviction.

Neil Latimer and three other UDR soldiers became known as the 'UDR Four' after they were convicted of the murder of a Catholic man, Adrian Carroll, in 1983.

The other soldiers were subsequently freed on appeal.

However, Latimer, who has maintained his innocence, served 14 years in jail before finally being released in 1998.

Latimer's case was referred back to the Appeal Court for a record third time following a Criminal Cases Review Commission inquiry.

His appeal was primarily based on a confession statement which he later retracted and the reliability of evidence given by a witness who claimed to have seen him near the murder scene in 1983.

Lord Chief Justice Sir Robert Carswell, sitting with Lord Justices Nicholson and Campbell, said at the end of the seven-day hearing that it would take some time before they could give their judgement.