Date set for Sliabh Liag killers Alan Vial and Nikita Burns conviction appeals

A hearing date has been set for appeals by Alan Vial and Nikita Burns who were convicted of murdering Robert 'Robin' Wilkin, before his body was thrown over cliffs at Sliabh Liag.

Vial and Burns, who were living together having dated for a short period at the time of the murder, were convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury in March 2025 of murdering Mr Wilkin. Vial (39), of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, and Burns (23), of Carrick, had pleaded not guilty to murdering the 66-year-old on June 25, 2023.

The trial heard that Mr Wilkin suffered at least two depressed fractures to the back of his head before being put over the cliffs.

At the trial, Vial took the stand and claimed that his co-accused used a large rock to inflict the two fractures. Vial denied striking Mr Wilkin at all, but the jury rejected his version of events. The appeals were listed before the Court of Appeal today (FRI) for case management.

When the matter was called on, lawyers for both defendants indicated they were seeking a date for the hearing of their conviction appeals, which the court heard would take a full day. Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy set July 23 as the date for the hearing.

The Irish Coast Guard recovered Mr Wilkin’s body from the sea eight days after he was thrown from the cliffs. Due to predator damage and decomposition, State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster was unable to identify a cause of death.

She noted multiple fractures to Mr Wilkin’s face but could not say which had been caused by the fall from the cliff and which related to a prior assault.

However, the jury heard the two fractures to the back of his head were not consistent with a fall down a cliff, but were “entirely consistent” with injuries that could have been caused by a bloody rock found by gardaí at the top of the cliffs.

DNA testing showed blood and hair on the rock were Mr Wilkin's. Each defendant blamed the other for Mr Wilkin's death.

However, the prosecution argued they were part of a joint enterprise to cause serious injury to Mr Wilkin and therefore were both guilty of murder.