Two loyalist prisoners serving life sentences for murder were released from prison yesterday as part of the early release scheme agreed under the Belfast Agreement. Mr John Hugh Millar (41), a member of the UVF from the Shankill area of Belfast, had served 11 years of a life sentence for the murder of Catholic, Brian Leonard (20). He was shot dead while working on a Shankill Road building site in 1986.
UDA/UFF prisoner, Mr Joe Morrison (33), from north Belfast, had served 11 years after being convicted of killing two men in 1987. Catholic, James Meighan, was killed after leaving the home of his Protestant girlfriend. Mr Morrison was also convicted of killing fellow UDA member, Thomas Dixon, in the same year. Forty-one prisoners have been freed over the past two weeks under the early release scheme. Up to 200 prisoners are expected to be released by Christmas.
Meanwhile, the Continuity IRA has claimed in a call to a Belfast newsroom that it fired a rocket at a police barracks in Enniskillen on Wednesday night. A woman using a recognised code word said the device exploded at about 10 p.m. A police spokesman said last night that there was no evidence that anything had been fired. Nothing had been found and no explosion was heard in the area at the time.