The British government confirmed today it has dropped plans to extradite two IRA men who escaped from London’s Brixton prison 18 years ago.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it was no longer preparing a case against Pearse McAuley (44) - who was freed from Castlerea Prison in Co Roscommon today after serving 10 years for killing Detective Garda Jerry McCabe during a robbery - and Nessan Quinlivan.
Mr McAuley and Mr Quinlivan were facing conspiracy to murder and explosives charges when they made the jail-break in July 1991. The pair shot their way out of Brixton as they awaited trial for conspiracy to murder brewery boss Charles Tidbury and for firearms and explosives offences.
In a statement the CPS said: “Having reviewed these cases, the CPS has decided there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.”
Both Mr McAuley and Mr Quinlivan had been arrested on an extradition warrant in 1995, and while Mr McAuley went on to serve a sentence for Det McCabe’s killing, Quinlivan fought the case.
While on the run, Mr McAuley was part of an IRA gang jailed for the shooting dead of Det Jerry McCabe in an armed robbery in Co Limerick in 1996. The officer was shot about 15 times with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
Mr McAuley and Kevin Walsh (52) were the last of the five men jailed for the robbery to be released today. They had served three-quarters of their 14-year sentences.
The CPS also said it was no longer seeking prosecution of two other men - Andrew Martin and Anthony Duncan.
Mr Martin was wanted on bomb making and conspiracy to cause explosions in the late 1980s. He had been identified as a suspect in 1995 and in 2001 successfully appealed his extradition.
Mr Duncan was wanted over bomb attempts in Bognor Regis and Brighton in 1994 which involved explosives being tied to bicycles. He appealed the extradition in 2000.
In a statement, Sinn Féin TD Martin welcomed the decision from the British Attorney General. “This will be a relief to the men and their families,” he said.
However, Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister said: “It is nothing short of outrageous that McAuley has been allowed to get away scot-free in relation to the crimes he committed in the UK.
"The Dublin government should have alert the British authorities to the imminent release of McAuley and he should have been immediately rearrest [sic] the moment he stepped out of jail."