WORLD : Quinn’s Murder Verdict Upheld

LONDON — An American who belonged to the Irish Republican Army lost an appeal today of his conviction for the 1975 murder of a London policeman.

The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of William Quinn, 42, who was extradited to Britain and sentenced to life in prison in February, 1988, for shooting a 21-year-old constable, Stephen Tibble, while fleeing arrest.

Quinn had appealed, claiming faulty identification by a policeman who saw the shooting.

After the shooting, Quinn went to Ireland, where he was jailed for 12 months for IRA membership. It was at that trial that he was secretly identified by a Scotland Yard detective, Adrian Blackledge, as Tibble’s killer.

After his release from an Irish prison, Quinn returned to the San Francisco area. Britain requested his extradition, and after a five-year legal fight, he was flown to London by the FBI.