A loyalist paramilitary involved in the murder of the father of the Northern Ireland comedian Patrick Kielty was among those released yesterday under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
Mr William Bell was the driver of a getaway car used in the 1988 UDA murder of Mr Jack Kielty, a Catholic director of a building firm from Dundrum, Co Down. His son Patrick, a former presenter of the National Lottery Big Ticket, was then 17.
Mr Bell (40) from Ballymartin, Co Down, had served more than 10 years of a life sentence at the Maze prison for aiding and abetting the sectarian murder. He has always pleaded innocence.
Among the nine life sentence prisoners who walked free yesterday were the first two women to be released.
Ms Anna Corry and Ms Pat McCool from Derry have each served 15 years in Maghaberry prison for their part in the INLA bombing of the Droppin' Well pub at Ballykelly, Co Derry in 1982, when 11 British soldiers and six civilians were killed.
A total of 142 prisoners have been released under the Belfast Agreement.