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Shankill Bomber Re-Jailing "Reprehensible"
According to Sinn Fein Presidenté Gerry Adams, the return to jail of a multiple murderer spotted amidst a crowd of rioters "unjust" and "reprehensible".
Sean Kelly was arrested after he was photographed taking part in riots in the Ardoyne area of Belfast this year. This was pointed out to Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, in the House of Commons on Thursday by DUP MPs Jeffrey Donaldson and Nigel Dodds. It has been reported that the secretary of state was handed a police dossier and that Kelly's rearrest was not based on any one incident.
Obviously the fact that this man and his cohort carried out a bomb attack which killed 9 innocent people was neither unjust nor reprehensible, nor the fact that despite being given 9 life sentences he was released on 28th July 2000, after serving only 7 years, with £76,000 in his pocket.
The UPMJ (hardly an unbiased source, I realise) carries an account of a relative of one of the innocent victims of Kelly's Shankill Bombing.
Follow up:
Prisoner releases were a bitter pill to swallow in the name of peace in 1998. The fact that some of those released have gone straight back to what they know best is disgusting, especially with all the funding given to 'former prisoner support groups'. Prisoners were given a clear choice when they were released under licence and that was stay in gaol, or go back to live a normal life. Those incapable of doing the latter should be forced to serve out their sentences in their entirety and not allowed to ruin things for the rest of us.
Update
I also feel I have to point out I'm a bit worried about the context of this arrest and hope that Peter Hain isn't just pandering to DUP pressure. I do find this unlikely given Hain's republican credentials, but I hope there is enough evidence in the police dossier to confirm that Kelly was actively involved in criminal activity, and would call on the Secretary of State to make any such evidence publicly available. This will ensure Sinn Fein can't use this as another reason to justify the continued existence of the IRA. The Daily Provo has already called this case "internment".
Kelly's case will now be dealt with by the Sentence Review Commission, who investigate the evidence and decide whether or not prisoners released on licence should have their licence revoked.