Suspected INLA man extradited from US

A SUSPECTED republican terrorist accused of murdering a Northern Ireland police officer nearly 30 years ago has been deported from America.

Maze Prison escapee John Edward McNicholl, 51, was put on a plane after losing a six-year battle with US authorities.

It is understood he was flown into Shannon Airport last Friday in a bid to avoid being re-arrested by police in the North.

“Once he knew he was being deported he could choose where he wanted to go,” a security source said.

McNicholl fled to America following a dramatic jail breakout months after being arrested for the killing of RUC Constable Robert McPherson during an ambush in Dungiven, Co Derry, in July 1975.

US officials also accused him of having been a member of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), the republican faction behind the murder.

But after his final appeal against being sent back was rejected, he was put on a plane on Friday.

Police chiefs in Belfast are considering whether to re-examine the case or to seek help from gardaí if they decide to pursue McNicholl.

But republican sources said he would remain in Ireland until he gets assurances that he qualifies for early release available to all paramilitary prisoners whose crimes were committed before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

“Eddie will be lying low until we see what his position is and make sure he only has to do two years,” one associate said.

McNicholl, from the Dungiven area, allegedly shot dead Mr McPherson, a 25-year-old from Leck near Coleraine, Co Derry, and wounded another officer during a shoot-out.

The murder victim was gunned down in front of shoppers as he investigated a hoax car bomb alert used to lure him.

The gunman stole Mr McPherson’s gun as he lay dying.

McNicholl was captured in February 1976 with other men by police searching a farmhouse for weapons in Dungiven.

Three months later, McNicholl and seven other men tunnelled out of the now-closed Maze Prison near Lisburn, Co Antrim.

He had been appealing against a deportation order from the US since 1997, saying he was jailed for a crime he did not commit.

His final court appeal was denied on July 10, said Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for the US Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

US government prosecutors said McNicholl had entered the US illegally, belonged to a terrorist group and was one of the gunmen who shot the constables.

McNicholl admitted entering the US illegally, but denied any role in the paramilitary group or the shooting.

Since then he has married an American woman in a bid to aid his fight against deportation, sources said.

He testified during his 1999 deportation hearing that he was active in the non-violent Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, which organised demonstrations and rallies for jobs.

He said he had been targeted by British authorities because of his involvement in that group.