Castletown man's murder conviction upheld

Fifteen year sentence deemed appropriate

A Castletown man jailed for life for murder has lost an appeal against his conviction and sentence.

Ian Anderson murdered 60-year-old Neil Roberts in December 2013.

A five week trial last year heard how Anderson brutally beat Mr Roberts to death after he discovered Mr Roberts was having an affair with his wife.

A 15 year minimum jail term was imposed, a punishment that was upheld at a court of appeal this week.

James Davis reports:

Anderson’s legal team argued the punishment was ‘manifestly excessive’ and that the conviction by a jury was ‘unsafe and unsatisfactory’ and amounted to a ‘substantial miscarriage of justice’.

They claimed reasonable lines of enquiry were not followed by police, that the jury failed to be properly directed in a number of areas of the case, and, as a result, the conviction should either be quashed or reduced to manslaughter.

It was also disputed why the evidence of Mrs Anderson, the only eye witness to the fatal incident, was not put to the jury.

However, the court heard she had provided inconsistent witness statements and so may have given a detailed but untruthful account of events.

Appeal judges Tattersall and Doyle concluded they agreed with the thrust of the observations expressed during the trial by Deemster Montgomerie who presided. That while the deceased Neil Roberts had begun the violence on the night in question, Anderson had brutally murdered him, inflicting devastating injuries and noted there was a significant delay in obtaining medical help.

They concluded Anderson displayed no contrition and that a minimum sentence of 15 years was appropriate.

(Pic of Ian Anderson)