Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Naomi Long is to speak in the Assembly about the circumstances surrounding Gary Anderson's compassionate temporary release
Public confidence in the justice system has been "damaged" by the circumstances surrounding the temporary release from prison of convicted murderer Gary Anderson, Justice Minister Naomi Long has said.
Anderson, who is one of two brothers jailed for life in 2023 for the 2018 murder of Karol Kelly in Londonderry, remains at large a week after he absconded while attending his father's funeral in Londonderry last Monday.
Long, who is to meet the murder victim's family, is ordering an independent review into the circumstances surrounding Anderson's release from Maghaberry Prison.
That happened after a court overturned a decision by the prison service to refuse him permission to attend the funeral.
A day before the funeral last Monday, a judge granted Anderson a two-hour compassionate temporary release (CTR) from Maghaberry Prison to attend.
Anderson's brother Sean also challenged the decision not to release him from Magilligan Prison to attend the funeral, but that was upheld by the same 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.
Image source, PSNI HandoutImage caption, Gary Anderson, who is serving a 15-year sentence for the murder of Karol Kelly, remains on the run
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 have been 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., external
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 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."
She said she was setting up an independent review into what had happened as the offer was not made to the Prison Service so the judge "in good faith made the decision based on the information that he had".
Long has said all relevant facts must be established and carefully considered and is to update MLAs on Monday about the case.
She said she was convinced of the need for an independent review because public confidence in the system had been damaged.
"I want to be absolutely confident that we have all of the facts of the case and that we can take mitigating measures to ensure that there is no repetition of this."
Speaking on Monday, Long apologised to the family of Karol Kelly and acknowledged the impact Anderson's release and subsequent absconding from prison has had.
She said she was "desperately sorry that they have been put through this trauma as a result of whatever has happened".
"Whatever miscommunication, whatever poor information, they should not have been subjected to this ongoing trauma and distress, and I can only apologise genuinely for that."
She said she would meet them "subject to their wishes" and added: "I don't want them to be drawn into this, I don't want them to feel any further distress."
Image source, PA MediaImage caption, Gavin Robinson and Jon Burrows spoke to the media at Stormont on Monday
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson said the "ongoing drip-feed of information" surrounding the case was "shattering confidence in the justice system and the justice minister".
Speaking at Stormont, he said the public were "in an outrageous position of having a convicted murderer roam our streets as a consequence of a catastrophic series of errors".
The East Belfast MP claimed the Northern Ireland Assembly was "misled" when questions were raised in the assembly last week about how Anderson became unlawfully at large.
"Whether that was inadvertent or because the right questions just simply hadn't been asked, it's not good enough," he said.
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Jon Burrows said Karol Kelly's family had been "retraumatised by the catastrophic failures".
"The fundamental purpose of the justice system is public protection, and it has failed in this case," he said.
Burrows said he was "not impressed" by how Long had handled the controversy, saying that when he "raised these issues in the assembly last week" she "brushed them off".
"We need fast facts here and I think we need real accountability."
Image source, PA MediaImage caption, Jim Allister and Eoin Tennyson also spoke at Stormont on Monday
Alliance Party deputy leader Eóin Tennyson said Long "did not at any point mislead the assembly".
"The minister put on the record the information that was provided to her, and as soon as concerns arose around that information the minister wrote to the speaker to ask to go to the chamber to provide additional information," he said.
"So I would commend the openness, the transparency, the speed at which the minster has responded to these issues."
Tennyson said his thoughts were with the family of murder victim Karol Kelly, saying they have been "dealing with a huge amount of trauma as a result of what has unfolded".
Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister said the situation was "beyond comprehension".
He said there were "many serious questions" for the Prison Service and Stormont's departmental solicitors' office, as well as the judiciary.
"How the courts came to release a man in those circumstances - without a tag, without any facility to check in on where he was going and where he was coming from, and simply to give him free rein, which he took full advantage of - is beyond comprehension," he said.
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