Man loses challenge to handover of records

A Belfast man yesterday lost a High Court challenge to his 1970s Portlaoise Prison medical records being handed over to the Public Prosecution Service of Northern Ireland for use as evidence in an attempted murder charge which he currently faces.

Michael Burns, aged 67, of Cliftonville Avenue, Belfast — who is one of the people known as the ‘On The Runs’ — is charged in the North with the attempted murder of off-duty prison officer John Carlisle in north Belfast in 1977, and possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

The On The Runs were republicans suspected of involvement in terrorist crimes but who had never been charged.