§ The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Paul Murphy)On 10 January 2003, following the receipt of information from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, I exercised my powers under section 1(3) of the Northern Ireland (Remission of Sentences) Act 1995 and revoked the licence granted to John James Adair. He has since been arrested and returned to prison.
I revoked his licence because it appeared to me that his continued liberty would present a risk to the safety of others and that he was likely to commit further offences. Unless I exercise my powers under section 1(5) of the 1995 Act, which I have not plans to do, he will remain in prison until 13 January 2005.
I have put in place additional safeguards for persons whose licences are revoked. These include the appointment of independent Commissioners, who hold or have held judicial office, to consider and advise me upon any representations made by recalled prisoners. I will also make available funds to meet the reasonable legal expenses of prisoners in connection with making such representations whether in writing or at any oral hearing the Commissioner may decide is necessary. Further details of the procedures and how they will operate will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
These additional safeguards will, remain in place until superseded by amending legislation and I commit the Government to them until that legislation is in place.