Last two McCabe killers released from prison

The last two men serving sentences for the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe 13 years ago have walked free from jail this morning.

Forty-four-year-old Pearse McCauley and 52-year-old Kevin Walsh were released from Castlerea Prison at around 7am after serving 10-and-a-half years of their 14-year sentences for manslaughter.

Detective Garda McCabe was part of an armed escort on a cash delivery van which was ambushed by a gang linked to the Provisional IRA in Adare, Co Limerick, in June 1996.

McCauley and Walsh were among four men jailed for between 11 and 14 years for the manslaughter of the 52-year-old garda.

The authorities in the UK are seeking the extradition of McCauley, who escaped from London's Brixton Prison in 1991 while awaiting trial.

He is wanted on conspiracy to murder and explosive charges.

In a statement this morning, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said the men had served their full sentences and he believed their apology some years ago was genuine.