Man convicted of Real IRA murders of 2 British soldiers in Northern Ireland wins appeal

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – A man who was convicted of the Real IRA killing of two British soldiers in 2009 has had his murder convictions overturned by Northern Ireland's highest appeals court.

Brian Shivers last year received a 25-year prison sentence after the trial judge found him guilty of murdering the soldiers, who were shot to death as they collected pizzas from outside their army base in the Northern Ireland town of Antrim. They were the first troops killed in the U.K. territory since 1997, the year that most IRA members began a cease-fire.

At the original trial, the judge accepted forensic evidence that Shivers' DNA was found on articles inside the attackers' getaway car.

But in Tuesday's ruling the three-judge appellate court said Shivers may not have known about the attack beforehand.