Milnes freed on bail

Sinn Féin Assembly member Michael Ferguson is pictured with Poleglass man Kieran Milnes, who was released on bail from Maghaberry prison on Wednesday 1 December.

Milnes, who was sentenced to nine months imprisonment after he confronted a death driver who was attempting to steal a car from outside his mother's Poleglass home, is appealing the sentence.

During his bail hearing at Belfast High Court, Milnes argued that his guilty plea, made at his trial in October, was involuntary and that he had been advised he had no choice but to admit to assaulting the would be car thief.

Granting bail, Judge Brian Kerr made it clear that by bailing Milnes, he was not prejudging his appeal, which is to be heard next year.