What does a life sentence really mean?

TODAY’S alarming report that the perpetrator of one of the most gruesome murders of recent years has been out on day release goes to the heart of the debate about what a life sentence actually means.

Just 10 years after being convicted of killing Patricia O’Toole, her murderer Sean Courtney has attended a college course in Dublin.

What is particularly disturbing is the fact that during the time Courtney was out of prison he was unsupervised and unattended by the authorities.