Garda killer denied release after 30 years behind bars

A man who “assassinated a Garda sergeant by shooting him in cold blood” has been refused temporary release and entry to a pre-release programme because of the nature of his crime, the High Court has heard.

Michael McHugh has spent decades behind bars after being found guilty of the murder of Sgt Patrick Morrissey following an armed robbery in 1985.

He had initially been sentenced to death in December of that year.