A murderer has been told he can use the lawyer of his choice to appeal his conviction using public funds.

Jeremiah Dill, who was found guilty of the murder of Perry Puckerin and sentenced to 35 years behind bars in 2018, initiated civil proceedings against the Legal Aid Committee last year after it refused his request to switch counsel.

He and Jay Dill, another convicted murderer also refused permission to change lawyer, claimed the committee’s decisions were unlawful and applied for a judicial review to have them overturned.

The committee decides which cases merit legal-aid funding from the public purse.

It has now changed its mind, according to justice campaigner Eron Hill.

Mr Hill, a paralegal who has been helping both prisoners in a personal capacity, shared correspondence showing the committee had decided Jeremiah Dill could be represented by Bruce Swan, a local lawyer.

Mr Swan will instruct a senior British trial lawyer, known as a King’s Counsel, to try to get the case heard at the Privy Council, Bermuda’s highest court of appeal.

Mr Hill said he expected the same decision to soon be made regarding Jay Dill, who was found guilty in 2013 of the premeditated gun murder of footballer Randy Robinson.

Like Jeremiah Dill, he wants to appeal his conviction at the Privy Council, having failed at the Court of Appeal.

Mr Hill said the pair would continue the judicial review proceedings. A hearing date is set for March 5.

The legal action will focus on asking the Supreme Court to declare that the committee’s initial refusals were “unlawful, and/or irrational and/or unreasonable”.

Mr Hill claimed: “This is a public interest case. The committee only agreed to the transfer in the face of getting judicial scrutiny.

“The public interest demands that we get a declaration that they are operating unlawfully and arbitrarily.”

Before the committee changed its mind, Mr Hill set up an online crowdfunding page with the aim of raising £25,000 to fund the civil action.

It had received pledges of £6,995 by Friday, with a week to go before the appeal was due to end.

The two murderers initially asked the committee to transfer their legal aid certificates from their previous local lawyer to Shi-Vaughn Lee, of 95 Law, who was Called to the Bar four years ago.

The committee refused their requests on the grounds of Ms Lee’s inexperience and said acting senior legal aid counsel Susan Mulligan, an experienced defence lawyer and special prosecutor from Canada, would be appointed to represent them.

The committee then ignored requests to switch to Mr Swan, their second-choice lawyer, who has been practising law for a decade but has less experience than Ms Mulligan in the Supreme Court and higher courts.

Jeremiah Dill received a letter, dated January 18, advising him that the committee met on January 10 and agreed his legal aid certificate for the Privy Council appeal could be transferred to Mr Swan.