Legal claims made by republican prisoners have doubled in a year

MLA says rise, which is being attributed to Covid restrictions, a ‘cause for concern’

THERE have been more legal claims made by republican inmates against the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) so far this year than in the past two years combined, new figures have revealed.

Republican and loyalist prisoners in Maghaberry are housed in separate accommodation. As of January 1 last year, there were only 29 prisoners across the two wings.

In 2019 there were two claims made by republican prisoners against the NIPS and three made the following year.

New figures show that, in the year to date, there have already been six claims made by republican inmates against prison authorities.

Ulster Unionist justice spokesperson Doug Beattie said that, while the figures are relatively low, the current trajectory is a cause for concern.

“It’s not a huge increase, but if it keeps up with this trend there could be a very large increase by the end of the year, which is worrying,” he told the Belfast Telegraph.

“I think these cases are due to Covid restrictions and prisoners being curtailed in what they can do.”

It has been prison policy since the pandemic hit in March for anyone entering the jail to undergo a 14 day isolation period.

“A number of processes are in place to mitigate the risk of infecting the wider prisoner population,” the NIPS said in a statement.

“This includes placing prisoners entering prison from the community, which may also include those returning from hospital visits, in isolation for 14 days.

“This is for their safety and the safety of the general prisoner population.”

In October, a group of suspected dissident republicans demanded to be presented on videolink during remand hearings despite Covid restrictions in jails across Northern Ireland.

Normal procedures for inmates appearing via videolink were stopped during the pandemic in order to reduce movement around prisons.

Last year it came to light that the separation of republican and loyalist prisoners in Maghaberry costs the taxpayer £2m each year, despite such prisoners accounting for just 3% of the overall inmate population at the facility.

Doug Beattie previously tabled a motion in 2016 calling for the system to be phased out. An amended motion was instead passed calling for a review into the regime.

Mr Beattie said the system does not represent value for money and is harmful to other prisoners.

“Those extra funds [maintaining the separation system] and the way the regime works has a detrimental effect on the other prisoners and how the limited prison service staff and infrastructure is able to work. So it’s not value for money,” he said.

“The second point I will make is that we have a society that is not balanced. Out on the street and in everyday life we are saying that paramilitaries are nothing more than criminals, with many of them involved in drug dealing, extortion and intimidation.

“We go after them, quite rightly, and when we prosecute them and jail them as criminals we then put them in a separate prison regime and give them the title of ‘brigadier’. So when they come out they have this status that we don’t want them to have. It’s completely unbalanced.”

‘If it keeps up with this trend there could be a large increase by the end of the year, which is worrying’