AN Irishwoman serving a lighter sentence for plotting to bomb sea side resorts in Britain lost a court case yesterday over a Home Office refusal to grant her temporary parole to visit her sick father.
Ella O'Dwyer (35), of Roscrea, Co Tipperary, was sentenced in England in 1986. She was transferred to Maghaberry Prison, near Lisburn, Co Antrim, in July 1994, but remains under the control of the Home Office as she is a "temporary transfer prisoner's.
She applied for parole to visit her father William (73), whom she has not seen for over a year. He was said to be too frail to visit her.
Her application was rejected by the Home Secretary, Mr Michael Howard, because of her classification as a Category A prisoner. It is also policy that such prisoners cannot be released to go outside the UK.
In the High Court in Belfast yesterday O'Dwyer applied for a judicial review of the ruling.
Her barrister, Mr John Larkin, said other Catergory A prisoners shad been paroled and one of them had visited the Republic and returned.
Mr Larkin said O'Dwyer's offences arose from a paramilitary campaign that had been brought to an end. It was unreasonable of the Home Secretary to continue to consider her a prisoner with a high risk of escaping, reoffending or not returning to prison.
The application was refused by Mr Justice Kerr, who said the Home Secretary had taken all matters into account and had not regarded as an inflexible bar the fact that O'Dwyer wished to visit the Republic.