European judges slam ‘paper witness’ in Irishmen’s conviction for grisly killing

The European Court of Human Rights found the Netherlands denied Kenneth Brunell and Barry McArdle a fair hearing after a Dutch appeals court overturned their 2017 acquittals and convicted them of manslaughter in the 2009 killing and dismemberment of Keith Ennis — without ever hearing the key witness testify in person. That witness, identified only as X, was the only source of detail on the men's roles; phone records and DNA placed them at the scene but did not establish the killing itself.

The Amsterdam Regional Court had found X too unreliable to convict on murder or manslaughter, sentencing the men to two years for disposing of the body. The Court of Appeal reversed that, raised the sentences to 13 years, and did so based on a reading of X's written statement rather than his live testimony — a gap the European court says no later legal review could fix.

Legal scholars quoted in the ruling's aftermath called the outcome consistent with established precedent: appellate courts overturning acquittals on the strength of a witness's credibility need to hear that witness themselves. Both men plan to seek reopening of their cases in the Netherlands.

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