Member's statement: Prisons: Release of Gary Anderson
Member's statement by Mr Jon Burrows on .
- MLA
- Mr Jon Burrows
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 21 September 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Prisons: Release of Gary Anderson
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5741763
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The fundamental purpose of the justice system is public protection. Our justice system has fundamentally failed to discharge that solemn duty in the case of Gary Anderson, a dangerous convicted murderer, who is on the run. My thoughts today are with the family of Karol Kelly, brutally murdered. Not only have they been bereaved, having lost a loved one, but they have been re-traumatised by the catastrophic errors in the case. I have not yet heard the leadership that is required to tackle the issue. Just last week, I raised my concerns that, in the decision that was made, while substantively correct that this man should never be released on day release, there were procedural flaws that did not make it resilient to legal challenge. I was told by the Justice Minister that there was nothing to see here. It turns out that that is exactly what the issue is. This is the highest-risk area of justice, when you are making decisions on whether someone is suitable for release on to the streets who has committed a violent murder. It seems that the wrong score was listed in the forms. When the Prison Service was asked when the last review was done, it said that it took place in 2026, but then it could not find any record of that review. Vital information was not recorded in the governor's decision, such as the fact that the prisoner had failed two mandatory drug tests — he had refused to do them. That would have strengthened the decision to refuse the application. And then the catastrophic failure: when the judge said that the decision was not procedurally sound and invited the governor, via the legal representative, to remake that decision, that did not happen. Either the Prison Service did not take up the invitation or the departmental solicitor did not pass on that request. That led to the inevitable decision that a dangerous man was released with a civilian chaperone with no training and no handcuffs. We now have a dangerous prisoner on the run. Why on earth was a member of the Northern Ireland Prison Service not at the court with the departmental solicitor in order to close the communication gap? It was inevitable that there was going to be a to and fro between the prison and the court on a Sunday afternoon. There are serious lessons to be learned. My message to the on-the-run thug Gary Anderson is this: hand yourself in. If anyone is harbouring him, assisting him or withholding information about him, they are committing a crime. The Police Service of Northern Ireland and an Garda Síochána need to redouble their efforts to get that man behind bars. However, we need real answers from the Justice Minister so that this never happens again. We are here to keep people safe, not the opposite.
476 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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