MS ROISIN McALlSKEY, who is awaiting extradition to Germany in connection with an IRA mortar attack, was transferred to a psychiatric hospital last night suffering from post-natal depression after she was granted conditional bail at the High Court in London.
Under a police escort, Ms McAliskey (25) and her eight-day-old daughter, Loinnir, were moved from the Whittington hospital in north London to the mother and baby unit at the secure Maudsley psychiatric hospital in Camberwell, following Mr Justice Butterfield's ruling.
In a joint statement, the McAliskey family and the Whittington hospital said Ms McAliskey would remain at the Maudsley until she is "medically fit for discharge" and then her case would be reviewed again.
During the two-hour private court hearing, it is understood Ms McAliskey's lawyers gave Mr Justice Butterfield a number of medical reports outlining her post-natal depression which, it was argued, is due to her "traumatic experiences at Holloway prison". Ms McAliskey had been threatened by several other prisoners and she feared for the safety of her child.
Outside the court, her solicitor, Ms Gareth Peirce, said her client would be staying at the hospital for the foreseeable future and that a number of sureties had been provided.
"She has been granted bail to go to a specialist NHS mother and baby unit and that is all we can say," she stated.
Welcoming the transfer, a close family friend said Ms McAliskey needed rest and would be assessed on her arrival at the hospital.
"This is very much what we wanted. She is still very traumatised by her time in Holloway. This should be the end of the whole affair, the case should now be thrown out," he added.
Sources at the English Prison Service indicated that the level of security surrounding Ms McAliskey, who was a Category A high-risk prisoner, will now be reduced at the Maudsley's secure mother and baby unit. She had been under police guard at the Whittington hospital.
It is understood that her mother, Mrs Bernadette McAliskey, the former Mid-Ulster MP and civil rights campaigner, and the father of her child, Mr Sean McCotter, will be able to visit regularly.
Ms McAliskey, who is from Coalisland, Co Tyrone, was arrested last November in connection with the IRA bombing of a British army base in Osnabruck, Germany, last June.
Extradition proceedings against Ms McAliskey are scheduled to begin next Tuesday.
She has always protested her innocence and was transferred from Holloway prison to the Whittington hospital three days before she gave birth to her daughter, after being granted conditional bail at an earlier High Court hearing.