Pair found guilty of murdering man thrown over cliffs

A man and woman have been found guilty of murdering a 66-year-old man who was thrown over cliffs along the Wild Atlantic Way.

Alan Vial, 39, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, County Donegal and Nikita Burns, 23, from An Charraig, County Donegal, both denied the murder of Robert Wilkin, who was also known as Robin, on 25 June 2023.

The body of the County Tyrone man was found eight days later in the sea at the foot of Slieve League cliffs in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.

It is not known if he was dead or alive when pushed.

His body was found following a search involving gardaí (Irish police), the Donegal Mountain Rescue Team and the Irish Coastguard.

• Famous beauty spot, brutal murder: The body at the foot of the cliffs

The trial had previously heard Vial, Burns and Mr Wilkin had been drinking at various bars on the night of the murder.

CCTV footage shown during the trial showed a car travelling from McIntyre's Bar in Dunkineely to Roshine, which a prosecutor said was most likely the place where Mr Wilkin was assaulted.

The Irish state pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster, had told the trial that she was unable to identify a cause of death due to the body's state of decomposition and the damage caused by the fall down the cliff face.

However, she did identify two depressed fractures to the back of the victim's skull which were not consistent with a fall down a cliff.

The prosecution case was that Mr Wilkin was beaten with a rock before being driven to Slieve League and put over the cliffs.

Prosecutors also said the victim was either thrown over the cliff "alive or dead".

They had argued that Burns and Vial acted together as a joint enterprise, meaning they were both equally responsible, regardless of who struck the fatal blow.

During the trial, the two accused each other of the murder.

The trial had been told that all three became friends just weeks before the murder and they had lived together at times in Vial's house in Killybegs.

Vial and Burns had been in a brief relationship in the time leading up to the killing of Mr Wilkin.

Vial, who was described by his barrister as "a petty criminal and an alcoholic", had pleaded not guilty to the murder.

Burns, who the court heard had "a difficult upbringing", also pleaded not guilty to murder, but she pleaded guilty to impeding the apprehension or prosecution of another person for an arrestable offence.

Mr Wilkin's body was discovered following a huge land, sea and air search along the County Donegal coastline involving search and rescue helicopters, boats, drones, the Irish defence forces, and a large number of people from local communities.

The search began after a car in which the two killers were travelling crashed the evening after the victim was murdered and Vial was arrested for drink driving.

The crash and Vial's arrest, along with admissions made by Burns to friends that evening, quickly led to a major police operation at the cliffs.

After a lengthy trial which began in January, the jury took just over eight-and-a-half hours across three days to reach their verdicts.

The seven woman and five men found both Vial and Burns guilty of murder.

Burns and Vial will both be sentenced on Friday.