Category Archives: NIPS
MAN IN COURT OVER PRISON OFFICER MURDER
A man has appeared in court accused of obtaining a car which was later used in the killing of a prison officer in Northern Ireland.
Damien Joseph McLaughlin, 36, was linked to the Toyota Camry, which was moved from the Irish Republic to Northern Ireland before it was used in the murder of David Black, 52.
Father-of-two Mr Black, from Cookstown, Co Tyrone, was shot on a motorway in Co Armagh after a Toyota pulled alongside him at high speed while he drove to work at the high security Maghaberry Prison.
The defendant was accused of obtaining the car at Carrigallen, Co Leitrim, and bringing it to Northern Ireland.
An investigating officer told Lisburn Magistrates’ Court: “We believe we will be able to prove that the car was moved from there shortly after Mr McLaughlin was in Carrigallen and it was taken straight to Northern Ireland towards the Craigavon area.”
Mr Black was shot dead close to Craigavon on the M1 motorway on November 1. Dissident republicans claimed responsibility.
He was the first prison officer killed in Northern Ireland for 20 years.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland officer today said evidence to support a terrorism charge was with Irish police and would be sent to Northern Ireland as soon as possible.
He said the Toyota was identified burned out after the killing in Craigavon.
“Gardai were able to trace the registration, they have conducted very extensive inquiries and been able to inform us where it moved and approximately what times it moved,” he said.
“The car was moved out of Carrigallen late on the 31st of October and on that date we believe we have CCTV provided by the Garda that places Mr McLaughlin in Carrigallen.
“Mr McLaughlin has never given an explanation.”
He said it was not believed the suspect, from Kilmascally Road in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, frequented that area but added he was not at liberty to go into detail on the evidence.
He said investigations were at an early stage and police needed to encourage more witnesses to come forward north and south of the Irish border.
“If too much is said along that line it will be a serious deterrent to other people in assisting police,” he added.
“The evidence has been fully discussed with the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) and the PPS were satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to substantiate a charge.
“The Garda Siochana believe that they have evidence sufficient and that will come to us in due course.”
The accused, dressed in a white top and jeans and flanked by prison officers, stood throughout the brief hearing, as half a dozen police officers kept watch in the crowded courtroom.
Mr Black’s young son Kyle, who spoke movingly at his father’s funeral last month, looked on, while a crowd of supporters in the public gallery applauded the accused as he was led away.
McLaughlin’s lawyer Peter Corrigan said the evidence should have been before the court before the suspect was charged.
“There is no evidence in existence against the defendant linking him to the car, no relevant and visible evidence,” he said.
“There is an expectation at some future date that there might be evidence.”
District Judge Rosemary Watters said she was prepared to accept the Garda will bring the evidence forward in due course and it will be before a court in Northern Ireland.
“I have to rely on what I am told and rely on a belief that that evidence when it is before a court will convict or at least there is a prima facie case against the defendant.”
She remanded him in custody to reappear via video-link at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on January 4.
Meanwhile, a 44-year-old man detained in the Irish Republic over the prison officer’s murder is due before the Special Criminal Court in Dublin this afternoon.
In a separate court appearance in the Irish Republic, a 44-year-old man was charged with IRA membership over Mr Black’s murder.
Vincent Banks, of Smithfield Gate apartments in Dublin city centre, appeared before the Special Criminal Court in Dublin accused of withholding information between October 10 and yesterday in relation to Mr Black’s murder.
He was charged with IRA membership on December 18, the day he was arrested.
It is understood he is suspected of being a member of the Real IRA.
Detective Sergeant Marilyn Brosnan told the Dublin court that when Banks was charged at Ballymun Garda Station this morning he replied: “Not at this time.”
She added that when he was later handed a copy of the charge sheet in the courts complex, he said: “I don’t believe so.”
Banks, who wore blue jeans and a white and blue striped polo shirt, sat with his arms folded during the hearing before standing briefly as the charges were put to him.
Mr Justice Paul Butler, presiding, remanded Banks in custody until tomorrow when a bail application will be heard.
There was no objection to legal aid.
Meanwhile, a 31-year-old woman arrested with Banks in Dublin has been released without charge.
JAIL BOSSES NOT DOING ENOUGH TO PROTECT PRISONERS
Prison authorities are not doing enough to protect prisoners from violent bullying and intimidation by fellow inmates inside Northern Ireland’s high security jail, inspectors have found.
Maghaberry Prison does not provide a sufficiently safe environment for the almost 1,000 men held in the Co Antrim facility, according to the Criminal Justice Inspection (CJI).
Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland, Brendan McGuigan, said drugs were often the cause of violent incidents. ‘It’s clear to us that people on prescription medication are being bullied to hand over the medication and that then creates the opportunities for a black market to operate within the prison,’ he said.
The announced CJI inspection was the first since Maghaberry was deemed a failing prison in a heavily critical assessment by inspectors in 2009. The exercise in March this year found areas of progress – and noted some improvement in prisoner safety – but said ‘significant weaknesses’ remained.
The prison was inspected by a multi-disciplinary team of inspectors from CJI, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for England and Wales, the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) and the Education and Training Inspectorate.
FIRST WOMAN TO HEAD NORTHERN IRELAND PRISON SERVICE
A woman has come out of retirement to become the new Director General of the Northern Ireland Prison Service.
Sue McAllister, 51, from South Yorkshire, who takes up her job on July 3, and who is the wife of Danny McAllister the Prison Service Director of High Security on the Mainland, has been chosen to press ahead with major changes to an out-of-date regime which costs £140 million a year to run.
She admitted today: “I do not underestimate the scale of the reform programme that will be delivered over the next few years, one of the most challenging undertaken by the public sector anywhere in the United Kingdom.”
Mrs McAllister has 25 years experience in the prison service, including working as a governor at HMP Gartree and Onley young offenders centre at a time when she was in charge of complex change management projects.
Her last job was as head of Public Sector Bids Unit in the Ministry of Justice before taking early retirement in August last year.
But Justice Minister David Ford clearly believes Northern Ireland’s first female director general is the right person for the £100,000-a-year post.
She will arrive in Belfast following an agreement between the prison officers association on new working arrangements – a hugely significant element of reform programme which also involves plans to reduce staffing levels and cut the prison budget by £16m over the next four years.
The first of 200 newly recruited custody officers are expected to begin duties later this year.
Northern Ireland has three jails – two for men at Maghaberry, near Lisburn, Co Antrim and Magilligan, Co Londonderry and one for women at Hydebank Wood, south Belfast, next door to a young offenders centre.
There are 1,800 prisoners with almost the same number of staff.
She has been in Northern Ireland before as part of a team which carried out a review of arrangements at Maghaberry following the suicide of a life sentence prisoner, who was found hanged, at his fourth attempt.
Mr Ford said Mrs McAllister, who is married with two grown-up children, was joining the service at a crucial stage of the reform programme. She replaces Colin McConnell who left after just 16 months to become head of the Scottish Prison Service.
The minister said: “A number of key milestones have been reached, including the successful launch of the exit scheme with over 150 staff leaving the service, a recruitment competition under way for new custody officers and an agreement with the POA on new working practices.
“This is only the start of the reform programme and it is important to maintain the momentum for change that has been established.
“Sue brings a wealth of experience to this demanding post and I know that she is committed to driving forward the change agenda.”
Mrs McAllister said it was a great privilege to lead the service through a period of fundamental reform.
She added: “I do not underestimate the scale of the reform programme that will be delivered over the next few years, one of the most challenging undertaken by the public sector anywhere in the United Kingdom.
“I am confident that I can lead the prison service through this change programme and with the support of colleagues, the department and the minister, create a service with offender rehabilitation at its core which plays its part in building safer communities across Northern Ireland.”
