Dissident republican fails to return to jail
A dissident republican prisoner has failed to return to jail after being let out to attend his grandson’s funeral, it emerged today.
Kieran McLaughlin hasn’t been seen since he was granted compassionate temporary release from Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn, Co Antrim yesterday.
He had been expected back within hours.
The Derryman, who was sentenced to 18 years after admitting possessing guns and ammunition, was accompanied by a prison chaplain when he was let out.
But a Northern Ireland Prison Service spokeswoman confirmed today that he had yet to return.
She added: "The police have been notified and the prisoner has been posted unlawfully at large."
McLaughlin pleaded guilty last November to having a large weapons cache found by police at his Galliagh Park home 12 months earlier.
Shotguns and rifles made in the former Soviet Union, Croatia, Romania and Egypt had all been seized, along with an improvised single shot sniper rifle with telescopic sight.
At the time he was out of jail on licence after serving part of a 13-year term for having a loaded handgun.
Sentencing him, Lord Justice McCollum said it was clear McLaughlin had dedicated himself to the pursuit of political objectives by violent and unlawful means.
Earlier this year he was released twice on similar compassionate grounds to visit his sick grandson at Altnagelvin hospital in Derry.
It is understood the boy was born with a life-limiting illness.
The Prison Service spokeswoman added: "On both occasions the prisoner abided by the conditions of his release."
