§ Mr. HaywardTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he is now in a position to make a further statement about Secretary of State pleasure cases in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Tom KingThe highest total of persons detarined during the Secretary of State's pleasure for murder was reached in 1982, when for a time there were 66 such cases; at the beginning of 1986 there were 55. There are now 33, including one sentenced only on 1 July this year. Of these six have been given provisional release dates, and the judiciary are being consulted (as required by law) in another three cases about the possibility of fixing release dates.
Of the remaining 17 prisoners who have served more than eight years and therefore meet the existing criterion for a first review, one has recently been sentenced to a fixed term of imprisonment for offences related to the Maze escape. Review dates have been fixed by the life sentence review board for all the remaining prisoners. Four of the cases are due for review before the end of this year, seven in February or April next year, four later in 1989 and one in April 1990. Two of the prisoners whose reviews are due in February and June 1989 will have them brought forward to the end of this year in consequence of the review of special category prisoners serving indeterminate sentences which I announced in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr. Hamilton) on 7 June at column 464.
Having given very careful thought to the particular circumstances of this group of prisoners, my right hon. Friend the Minister of State and I have decided to bring forward the timetable of reviews so that all the prisoners who have served more than eight years will have their cases reviewed by the life sentence review board before the end of 1988.