Ex-prisoners free to return to NI

The four escaped from Crumlin Road prison in 1981

Four former IRA prisoners who escaped from prison in Belfast have been granted special dispensation by the Queen to return to Northern Ireland.

The Royal prerogative of mercy given to Angelo Fusco, Robert Campbell, Paul Patrick Magee and Anthony Gerard Sloan means they are free from any risk of prosecution.

The move endorses an announcement made by Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson earlier this year that convicted terrorists living outside the province would not be pursued.

The four Provisionals were among a group of eight who broke out of Crumlin Road jail in North Belfast in June 1981.

Captain Westmacott was shot dead

Fusco, Magee and Campbell were convicted in their absence for their part in the murder of British Army Captain Herbert Richard Westmacott.

He was the highest ranking member of the SAS to be killed in the troubles.

Captain Westmacott was shot dead by an IRA unit on the Antrim Road in the north of the city in May 1980.

The men were all later recaptured in the Republic of Ireland where they were imprisoned for eight years.

No pardon

But because they had served less than two years of their original sentence the IRA men did not qualify for the Good Friday Agreement's accelerated early release scheme.

Mr Mandelson said in September that he did not intend to pursue convictions against terrorists living outside Northern Ireland who previously would have faced an extradition battle.

Angelo Fusco, one of the escapees

This move has now been underlined by the Queen signing the papers for the four former prisoners over the course of the weekend.

A Northern Ireland Office spokeswoman explained that legal technicalities meant the Queen's signature was necessary to ensure the former prisoners did not face re-capture by returning to Northern Ireland.

"It has always been a proper use of the Royal prerogative of mercy to address anomalies created by the strict application of the law," she said.

However, the spokeswoman added that this should not be regarded as a pardon.

She also said cases involving others living outside Northern Ireland would have to be considered as they arose.