MR Michael Howard, the British Home Secretary, will decide within weeks which of 14 IRA prisoners have grounds for appeal against their convictions because of the possibility of contaminated forensic evidence.
Prof Brian Caddy has identified the cases which might have been affected by the contamination of machinery at a forensic explosives laboratory, revealed last May. Mr Howard ordered the independent inquiry after scientists at the Ministry of Defence's Fort Halstead laboratory at Sevenoaks in Kent accidentally discovered that the centrifuge machine used to identify explosives evidence had been contaminated with traces of Semtex for more than six years.
The 14 people identified by Prof Caddy were among 38 charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, who had been convicted of offences involving explosives since the contaminated equipment came into service in 1989.
The Home Office yesterday confirmed the re-examination of the cases of Nick Mullin, James Canning, Vincent Wood, Patrick Hayes, John Taylor, Denis Kinsella, John Kinsella, Pairic Mac Fhloinn, Sean McNulty, Robert Friers, Hugh Jack, Ethel Lamb (deceased), Derek Doherty and Gerard Mackin.
It is understood the security forces are most concerned about possible reversals in the cases of McNulty, serving a 25-year sentence for storing explosives and Jack and Friers, both jailed for conspiracy to cause an explosion in London. The final decision on reference back to the Court of Appeal will be for Mr Howard.