Seriously-ill Brendan Lillis released by Parole Commissioners

Brendan Lillis

SERIOUSLY-ILL Maghaberry prisoner Brendan Lillis was released on licence by the North’s Parole Commissioners on Thursday night.  The 59-year-old, who was rushed to hospital from prison last week, is suffering from a debilitating arthritic illness.

His release has been welcomed by Sinn Féin and the SDLP but unionists say they’re angry at the decision.

DUP Health Minister Edwin Poots MLA attacked the decision, claiming that it could be an "al-Megrahi moment" for the North.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, convicted in 2001 of the 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing and killing 270 people, was released by the Scottish Government on compassionate grounds in August 2009 after being diagnosed with cancer. Al-Megrahi is still alive and was living back in Libya.

Justice Minister David Ford has said Brendan Lillis has been released on licence and can be recalled to prison.

Brendan Lillis was sentenced to life in 1977 on explosives charges but was released on licence in 1993.
His release was revoked in 2009 after he was re-arrested on robbery charges. He was deemed too ill to stand trial.

Sinn Féin delegations had met several times with Brendan Lillis in Maghaberry Prison and with his family. The party had raised his case publicly and with both the British Government and Justice Minister David Ford. Martin McGuinness had also spoken to the Irish Government about Brendan Lillis’s case.

Sinn Féin MP for West Belfast Paul Maskey said after the release:

No republican would condone the criminal activities Brendan Lillis was accused of being involved in. However, this was an issue of a seriously-ill man who had been deemed too sick to stand trial continuing to be held in prison. Sinn Féin are absolutely opposed to the revocation of licences. It is tantamount to internment and goes against natural justice.

From the start, what this case required was compassion from the criminal justice system. It was obvious that Brendan Lillis posed no threat to society – he has been bed-ridden for almost two years.

Myself and colleagues have held numerous meetings with the prison administration and Justice Minister David Ford in an attempt to secure Brendan Lillis’s release. Last week, Sinn Féin made a written submission to the Parole Commissioners. We are satisfied that commonsense has now prevailed and Brendan Lillis has been freed from prison to continue his medical care in hospital.

Brendan Lillis’s partner, Roisín Lynch, said:

You have to show compassion on some level. I would be just as compassionate if it was someone from the other side of the fence that was in the same situation. Bringing him back into jail, lying in a bed, the only place he can go is down.