McCabe prisoner free in months

THOUGH denied his freedom yesterday, a man involved in the events surrounding the shooting dead of Det Gda Jerry McCabe in 1996 will be free in just over three months.

John Quinn will be released under normal remission rules after serving three quarters of a six-year sentence for conspiracy to commit a robbery in Adare, Co Limerick, in June 1996. A member of his legal team confirmed he would be released in July.

Quinn and Michael O’Neill, jailed for 11 years for the manslaughter of Det Gda McCabe, lost their High Court action in which they claimed that they should be immediately released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Both men are being held as IRA prisoners in Castlerea, Co Roscommon.

Mr Justice Michael Piert ruled that, while the two men qualified under the early release scheme, Justice Minister Michael McDowell has absolute power of discretion over whether they should be released.

His predecessor, the judge noted, had specifically stated, prior to the signing of the Agreement and the convictions, that any person jailed in connection with Gda McCabe’s death would not be eligible for early release.

The pair argued that it was perverse to say they do not qualify. Other prisoners, whose victims included gardaí, had been freed, they said. Quinn and O’Neill claimed they were suffering “the worst type of discrimination”.

Michael Farrell, Quinn’s solicitor, said it was likely that the decision will be appealed. Mr McDowell said he would be studying the judgment but noted that the court held in the State’s favour.

“As there is the possibility of further legal proceedings the minister will not be making any comment,” a justice spokeswoman said.

Friends of Jerry McCabe’s widow Ann said she would be making no comment on the ruling. No-one from the Garda Representative Association was available for comment.

Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris, speaking outside the High Court, said: “It is disappointing the men were not released this morning but I welcome the fact that the court acknowledged the men qualify for release under the agreement. The onus is now back on the Minister. He should honour his commitments under the agreement and release the men.”

Quinn, 34, of Faha, Patrickswell, Co Limerick, and O’Neill, 51, of Lisheen Park, Limerick, were among five people jailed in 1999 in connection with the Adare robbery and subsequent manslaughter of Jerry McCabe.

Pearse McCauley (aged 38), from Strabane, Co Tyrone, Jeremiah Sheehy (aged 42), of Abbey Park, Rathkeale and Kevin Walsh (aged 46), of Lisheen Park, received sentences of between 11 and 14 years for manslaughter and lesser concurrent sentences for wounding Gda McCabe’s partner, Det Garda Ben O’Sullivan, and possession of firearms. Det Gda McCabe was shot dead as a gang of raiders rammed his unmarked Garda patrol car escorting a post office van.

It is thought Quinn and O’Neill took the legal action as they were the least high profile of the five and were attempting to set a precedent.