REPUBLICAN PRISONER Brendan Lillis was last night transferred from Maghaberry Prison in Northern Ireland to an outside hospital on the advice of a prison doctor.
The doctor decided that Lillis, who is suffering from a serious medical condition, should be taken to hospital for assessment of his condition.
Over recent weeks there were several calls from Sinn Féin and SDLP politicians for Lillis (59), who is from west Belfast, to be released on compassionate grounds because of his arthritis-related illness. He is suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, chronic arthritis, and weighs about 5½ stone.
So far, Minister for Justice David Ford has refused the requests although Lillis’s move to hospital may increase the prospects that he will be released.
Mr Ford has sought independent medical advice which will inform him on whether Lillis should be released on compassionate grounds. The North’s parole commissioners are also due to consider his case on the grounds of whether he poses a risk of committing further crime, and their ruling could also have an important bearing on his release.
Lillis was jailed for possessing explosives in 1977 and was released in 1993 on licence, which was revoked in 2009 when he was charged with robbery.