APPENDIX 18
Letter from Rt Hon Jane Kennedy MP, Minister
of State, Northern Ireland Office, to the Chairman of the Committee
Thank you for your letter seeking additional
information to the oral evidence given on 10 December by Peter
Russell, Peter Leonard and myself. I will address the issues in
the order you raised them.
1+2 During July No 10 Downing Street were
kept informed of developments from time to time as on a range
of issues affecting Northern Ireland. All decisions on what should
be done by way of response to the evolving situation were taken
by NIO Ministers who did not receive instructions from No 10 on
the matter, though we were certainly aware of their concern that
all necessary steps should be taken to manage the situation effectively.
During this period there was also a range of public comment by
political parties and other representative figures in Northern
Ireland. I am happy to appear before the Committee again should
you wish to discuss this aspect further.
3(a) The process for receiving advice on
Paramilitary affiliations is that the Special Branch Liaison Officer
attached to Lisburn Station receives a list of new prisoners from
the Security Department at Maghaberry every 2-3 weeks. The average
list is usually around 140 prisoners and the turn around time
is approximately 2-3 weeks.
3(b) The situation will be kept under regular
review and we will discuss the matter further with PSNI should
that become necessary.
4. The special supervision unit at Maghaberry
prison can accommodate 22 prisoners.
5. There are 827 discipline staff employed
at Maghaberry. The total amount of TOIL owed to these staff is
36,091.25 hours (as at 19 December). The average owed to each
member of staff is 43.6 hours.
6. With the imminent handing over of Maze
Prison to the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister
(OFMDFM), cell accommodation at Maze will no longer belong to
the Prison Service. For some months it has not been of serviceable
use.
Our contingency accommodation in future will
include:
— Use of vacant Sperrin dormitory accommodation
at Magilligan and
— Use of Mourne House at Maghaberry
if, as proposed, it is decided to move female prisoners to Hydebank
Wood.
7. Although the older houses in Maghaberry
are not as easy to supervise as the newly designed Bush and Roe
models, it is simply not feasible to replace them in the short
term. Moreover they are less than 20 years old. However, there
are plans to construct new accommodation based on the Bush and
Roe design on the Maghaberry site in the near future.
8. The allegation about an incident at Maghaberry
prison reported in your enclosed transcript actually relates to
an incident which occurred on Saturday 15 November.
8(a) Mr Leonard does not remember the exact
time of the call but believes it to have been a little after 9
am. Mr Gallagher rang him on his official mobile telephone. However,
the arrangements for out-of-hours contact are being reviewed.
8(b) No minute was made of this call. Mr
Leonard's recollection is that Mr Gallagher said that he was due
to visit Prisoner Shoukri at 10 am but could not reach the prison
by that time. He was concerned that, if late, he would not be
allowed in for the visit. Mr Leonard said that he would check
the position and let him know.
8(c) Mr Leonard immediately spoke to Governor
A, who was the senior on call Governor for Maghaberry, and explained
the situation to him. Governor A, who was at home, said he would
telephone the prison and get back to him. No minute was made of
this call.
8(d) Governor A returned the call, a few
minutes later, saying that there would be no problem if Mr Gallagher
turned up a little late. Mr Leonard then telephoned Mr Gallagher
and advised him of this. No minutes were made of these calls.
Accounts relating to the calls from Mr Leonard and Governors A
and B are attached at Annex A.
8(e+f) Mr Leonard did not receive any further
calls about the visit.
8(g) No booking had been made on the prison
computer system for a visit between Mr Gallagher and Mr Shoukri
on Saturday 15 November.
8(h) As a remand prisoner, Ihab Shoukri
is eligible to receive three domestic visits per week. He had
one domestic visit on 11 November, a second on 13 November and
finally a third (with Mr Gallagher) on 15 November. He did not,
therefore, exceed his entitlement.
8(i) Officer C, who was one of the managers
on duty in visits, recalls being approached by Officer Lewis at
some time during the morning of 15 November 2003. Officer C advised
Officer Lewis that it was the direction of the Governor that the
visit between Mr Shoukri and Mr Gallagher went ahead.
8(j) Accounts of the immediate supervisor
and the duty manager involved in the alleged incident relating
to the smuggled pen and notes are attached at Annex B.
8(k) Tapes are routinely erased after 31 days.
8(l) Mr Gallagher left Maghaberry Prison at
1.10 pm.
11 January 2004
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