A Belfast man, who has been living openly in Co Kerry since being granted extended temporary release under the Belfast Agreement last Christmas was arrested by the Garda in Tralee yesterday. He is to be brought before the Supreme Court today on foot of a warrant for his extradition to the North issued by that court more than eight years ago in connection with the murder of an SAS man in 1980.
In the High Court yesterday, Mr Justice O Caoimh was told by counsel for the State that Paul "Dingus" Magee (51), who is on temporary release from the Irish prison to which he was transferred in 1998 from a British prison, had not been arrested for the purpose of extraditing him to the North. Mr Maurice Collins, counsel for the State, said there was no question of Magee being extradited while serving a sentence in this jurisdiction.
Mr Justice O Caoimh was asked for an order under Article 40 of the Constitution requiring the State to produce Magee in court and show cause why he should not be released.
When told that the case was coming before the Supreme Court today, the judge said the Article 40 application could be renewed later if the circumstances arose.
An affidavit by solicitor Mr Michael Farrell , who said he had spoken to Magee after his arrest yesterday in Tralee, outlined the history of the case since Magee was convicted and sentenced on June 12th, 1981, for the murder of SAS Captain Herbert Richard Westmacott and for the attempted murder of British soldiers in Belfast.
Magee escaped from custody two days before he was sentenced. Subsequently he was arrested in the Republic and his appeals against extradition were dismissed in the Supreme Court in November 1991. Magee, who had been on bail, was not present for the Supreme Court decision.
In June 1992 Magee was arrested in England in connection with other offences but was immediately committed to prison to serve the two life sentences for the earlier offences. He subsequently received a further life sentence in the UK.
In May 1998, Magee was transferred to the Republic under the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Convention so that he could continue to serve all the sentences imposed on him in the UK in this jurisdiction. He continued to serve these sentences in Portlaoise prison until just before last Christmas.
At that stage, he was granted extended temporary release and had been living openly at his Co Kerry address since. It had been indicated to Magee that his temporary release would continue until May 2000. He had been given to understand that it was accepted by the prison authorities that he was a qualifying prisoner under the Belfast Agreement of April 1998.