I was 'fully transparent' about on-the run killer case - justice minister

The justice minister has denied misleading the Northern Ireland Assembly over the circumstances surrounding the prison release of convicted killer Gary Anderson, insisting she had been "fully transparent".

Answering questions at Stormont, Naomi Long said she "took exception" to any suggestion that she had "sought to mislead this House, inadvertently or otherwise" when addressing assembly members last week.

Anderson, who is one of two brothers jailed for life in 2023 for the murder of Karol Kelly in Londonderry, remains at large a week after he absconded while attending his father's funeral.

Long said she had provided the information she had at the time with "full candour".

Providing an update on the case at Stormont on Monday, Long said she had contacted the Speaker's Office to address members "at the earliest opportunity" after subsequent information surrounding the case came to light.

She added that given the "seriousness of these developments" and public concern over the case, she had asked for a full independent review to be commissioned.

She said this would examine all aspects of the case from the original compassionate temporary release application through to the judicial review proceedings and the events following Anderson's release.

A day before the funeral last Monday, a judge granted Anderson a two-hour compassionate temporary release (CTR) from Maghaberry Prison to attend.

It came after the application was originally denied by prison officials.

His brother Sean had also applied for compassionate leave from a different prison, Magilligan, but the decision to deny that application was upheld by the judge.

The funeral service took place at St Mary's Church in the Creggan area of Derry last Monday morning.

Anderson was not given permission to attend cremation in Letterkenny, County Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland that afternoon.

At some stage on Monday morning, he absconded from his court-approved civilian chaperone.

Court documents show that the chaperone appointed by the court to accompany Anderson during his father's funeral is a relative of the prisoner.

He is identified in court documents as an uncle; there is no suggestion of wrongdoing on his part.

CTR can be granted to prisoners when a family member has died or is seriously ill, but the decision to release them takes into account the circumstances of the case and any risks involved.

Questions were raised over the granting of Anderson's CTR following the publication of the full 15-page judgement from the judicial review into the Prison Service's decision.

The judgement found that the decision to refuse Anderson's request was based on inaccurate information about the risk he posed.

The decision had been taken by the duty governor at Maghaberry Prison.

In his judgement, Mr Justice Rooney found that an internal assessment of Anderson's likelihood of reoffending had been recorded at a higher level than the score held on the Prison Service's internal system.

A legal representative for the Prison Service told the court that the increased score had come from a colleague rather than the duty governor's personal knowledge.

When the system was checked, Anderson's score was 27, indicating a medium likelihood of reoffending, rather than 32, which had been recorded as a high likelihood in the decision letter.

The judge found that the duty governor "clearly took account of this incorrect information" when assessing the risks and considering whether the decision was proportionate.

There is a question mark about what happened after the judge knocked back the original decision.

According to the judgement, the judge invited the duty governor to reconsider the decision, but that offer was declined.

The judge described the decision not to review it as "somewhat surprising" and he granted Anderson temporary release subject to a number of conditions, finding that the Prison Service's decision was "flawed" and had taken into account "irrelevant and incorrect factors".

The judge said the failure to secure and take account of the correct risk assessment was unlawful.

However Long, whose department oversees the Prison Service, has said a procedural failing by the Departmental Solicitor's Office (DSO), meant prison officials were not told that the judge had offered them the chance to reconsider their decision not to release Anderson.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme earlier on Monday, Long said: "We have identified that that offer was not passed onto the decision-makers within Prison Service at that time and so we have only become aware of it when the full judgement was actually published and we were then able to refer to the transcripts."

Responding to questions in the Assembly on Monday, Long also apologised again to the family of murder victim Karol Kelly, saying they had "already endured unimaginable pain and loss" and that recent events had "renewed their distress and caused significant concern".

The minister said she hoped to meet the family in the coming days.

Long defended her handling of the case and expressed her frustration at suggestions that she did not care about the impact the case had on the Kelly family.

"When I'm accused of lying, when I'm accused of being incompetent, when I am accused of putting the rights and raising the rights of prisoners over the rights of victims on a day like today, which I didn't, I responded to a question I was asked," Long said.

"Then, yes, I will sound vexed and I sound vexed because this matters. This matters to me. It isn't just another performance piece in this chamber.

"I care about the impact that it has had on this family.

"So if my tone perhaps sounds slightly more stringent than usual, it is because I find it unthinkable that anyone in this chamber who knows me for as long as they have would think that I wouldn't care about it."