Murder victim's family 'deserve answers' as killer remains at large

Northern Ireland's justice minister has been asked to meet the family of a man murdered in Londonderry, whose killer has been on the run for four days.

Gary Anderson, 29, who is one of two brothers jailed for life for the murder of Karol Kelly in Londonderry in 2018, failed to return to Maghaberry prison on Monday.

A court granted Anderson compassionate temporary release (CTR) to attend his father's funeral in Derry, despite opposition from prison authorities.

SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan met the Kelly family on Wednesday and said they were "distressed, annoyed and frustrated at the current situation".

"They have questions that they need answered," Durkan told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme.

"They know there's clearly systemic issues here that need addressed and we need to work alongside the minister to identify them and address them."

The Foyle MLA has written to Justice Minister Naomi Long, requesting that she meet the Kelly family.

"There are huge questions as to how this has happened, how it's been allowed to happen and what's going to be done to prevent a repeat of something like this in the future."

The prison service had initially refused to grant Anderson compassionate temporary release (CTR) to attend the funeral, but that was overturned by a court on Sunday.

The funeral took place at St Mary's Church in the Creggan area of Derry on Monday morning followed by cremation in Letterkenny, County Donegal, that afternoon.

Anderson was released from Maghaberry Prison to attend the funeral, but absconded from his court-approved civilian chaperone.

On Wednesday, the Office of the Lady Chief Justice (LCJ) said the court had held the governor's decision not to grant CTR was "not substantiated by the evidence provided to the court".

Anderson's brother Sean, who is serving 17 years for the murder of Karol Kelly, also challenged the decision not to release him from Magilligan Prison to attend the funeral, but that was upheld by the same judge.

Police and the Prison Service have appealed directly to Anderson to hand himself in after he absconded on Monday, while the public have been advised not to approach him.

Durkan said the Kelly family had only become aware of Anderson's "pending release when the release had actually happened".

"I've written now to the justice minister seeking a meeting for the Kelly family for them to put these questions to her and get the answers but I want to make it clear that they're not blaming the minister," he said.

"They've found it quite unedifying to be honest that this seems to have been used by some others as a stick to beat Naomi Long with."

The Foyle MLA said the family would not "begrudge their son's murderers getting out of prison to attend their own father's funeral".

But, he said, the family had questions around how Anderson's release was approved.

"The family are very interested to know what evidence was provided or what evidence wasn't provided by the prison service in order for the court to deem it not substantial," he said.

The SDLP MLA added: "It's clear that someone in some prison seems to have dropped the ball here while the courts are blaming the prison, the prison are blaming the courts and the Kelly family are sort of stuck in the middle of that back and forth and that's not good enough. They deserve much better than that."

He said there were questions, too, around the release itself.

"How that was managed, who the civilian chaperone was, how they were approved by the court and also in terms of how they, as victims in this instance, were informed.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's The Nolan Show, Sinn Féin MLA and member of the policing board Linda Dillon questioned whether the prison service could have appealed the court's decision to free Anderson.

"The decision was made on a Sunday, it was for a funeral that was happening on the Monday, so that may have been the issue but we do need answers to all of those questions," she said.

William McKee, former governor at the Maze Prison, told programme: "We need to remember governors are not legally trained, so they're dependant on the legal advice they're afforded whenever they're making submissions to the courts.

"We have to emphasise that the governor was right in his initial decision to refuse the prisoner to be good to go on temporary release."

Speaking on Wednesday, Justice Minister Naomi Long said she believed the prison service had reached "the right conclusion" in relation to Anderson's release.

"But he has rights," she said.

"He was able to exercise those rights in the court and a judge with that information reached a different conclusion."

That, the minster said, is "part of the process" and "entirely legitimate".

Long said the majority of prisoners on short term release return to custody as required.

The minister, who urged Anderson to hand himself over to police, said he was "a threat to the public and he is potentially also at risk".