Records & Information Management Team

Northern Ireland Prison Service

Room 218a

Dundonald House

Upper Newtownards Road

BELFAST

BT4 3SU

Your Ref:

Sent via e-mail to:

Alastair MandersonOur Ref: 08:233

[

Date: 18 June 2008

Dear Mr Manderson,

CASE No: 08:233 – Alastair Manderson

Thank you for your letter of 24 May 2008which was treated as a request for information under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

You requested:

1)To ask how many terrorists convicted between 1971-1998 are still in HMPrisons in Northern Ireland.

2)And how many criminals released under the Good Friday Agreement have since been returned.

Please note - I am uninterested in the Religion or Affiliation of the criminal party. Although if you wish to provide a breakdown along these lines I will accept it.

Response:

1)

Main Offence / No. Of Individuals / Lifer
Attempted Murder / 1 / N
Life Licence Revoked / 1 / Y
Manslaughter / 1 / Y
Murder / 17 / Y
Possessing Class A Controlled Drug / 1 / N
Robbery / 1 / N
Total / 22

In relation to part 2 of your request, we also received a similar FOI request last year and I attach, at Annex A, our response and trust that you will also find this useful to you.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. Most documents supplied by NIO will have been produced by government officials and will be Crown Copyright. You can find details on the arrangements for re-using Crown Copyright on OPSI (Office of Public Sector Information) Online at:

Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. You must ensure that you gain their permission before reproducing any third party (non Crown Copyright) information.

We hope you find our response satisfactory. If you have any queries about this letter, please contact us. Please remember to quote the case number above in any future communications.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request an review of our decision, you should write to Appeal Panel, NIPS, Room 218A, Dundonald House, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast BT 4 3SU.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by NIPS. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire,SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

Records & Information Management Team

ANNEX A

Q.Under the Freedom of Information Act I request information pertaining to the number of prisoners who are currently serving a sentence in any of Northern Ireland's three prisons who were previously released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

With regards to each prisoner who can be so described, I request a breakdown detailing their age, sex, information as to the offence in relation to which they are currently incarcerated, and the paramilitary group/grouping with which they were linked/are linked. I also request guidance as to the prison in which they are currently being held.

A.There are 20 persons who were released early under the terms of the NI (Sentences) Act 1998 - the legislation enacted after the signing of the GFA to provide for the accelerated release of terrorist prisoners - who are currently serving a prison sentence in Northern Ireland. All are male and are located in Maghaberry.

Eleven of the 20 are life sentence prisoners who have had their licences suspended and/or revoked and who are now serving again their life sentences. Two of that 11 are currently serving further sentences - one for GBH and one for drugs offences.

The other nine who had been serving fixed-term sentences at the time of their release were not on extant licences at the time of their conviction and sentencing for further offending. The offences for which they are currently imprisoned include ones of murder, GBH, AOABH, robbery and rape, as well as a variety of more minor offences.

Age breakdown:

Age / Number of prisoners
32 / 3
34 / 2
35 / 1
36 / 1
38 / 2
39 / 1
43 / 1
44 / 2
45 / 1
46 / 1
47 / 1
48 / 2
52 / 1
58 / 1

The perceived paramilitary affiliation at time of release of the 20 persons concerned was:

UVF / 5
UFF / 1
UDA / 7
LVF / 2
PIRA / 2
INLA / 1
None / 2

In relation to all the prisoners released early under the terms of the NI (Sentences) Act 1998 who remain on licence all successive Secretaries of State have indicated that they will not hesitate to act to suspend their licences when information is received from the police to suggest that they present a risk to the safety of others.