Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
KILLER STONE FREED
Families hit out at ‘unjust’ release of Milltown murderer
MILLTOWN killer Michael Stone was freed from jail yesterday.
As the UDA man left Maghaberry there was an angry reaction from some victims, with one family branding it “unjust”.
Stone was freed by parole chiefs after a failed legal bid to stop him being released.
The family of 1988 cemetery attack victim Thomas Mcerlean said: “It is unjust Michael Stone is able to move forward with his life when he took the lives of Thomas and many other people.”
MICHAEL Stone has been freed from jail, it emerged last night.
The one-time UDA man, who killed three people in a gun and grenade attack at Milltown cemetery in West Belfast in 1988, left Maghaberry yesterday evening.
Last year, a legal challenge that would have prevented him applying again for early release was dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
The BBC reported it is understood Parole Commissioners took the decision to free him on Monday. The Northern Ireland Prison Service said they do “not comment on individual cases”, adding: “The independent Parole Commissioners for Northern Ireland are responsible for considering the cases of life sentence prisoners.”
The legal action to stop him getting out was taken by the sister of one of his victims.
Deborah Mcguinness’ brother Thomas Mcerlean, 20, was killed during the attack on Milltown cemetery.
In dismissing the appeal, the Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan said the court was satisfied that the legislation allowed a prisoner, who has had his licence revoked, to apply for a further declaration of his eligibility for release.
After being freed under the Good Friday Agreement, Stone was sent back to prison after entering Stormont in 2006 armed with explosives and an axe in an attempt to murder Gerry Adams and Martin Mcguinness. Stone claimed it was “an act of performance art”.
The family of Thomas Mcerlean, one of the three mourners murdered at Milltown, described the release as “unjust”.
In a statement released through Relatives For Justice they said: “Our family are denied the chance to heal whilst he refuses to answer questions about which parts of the State armed and assisted him with so many murders.”
Stone was also convicted of the murder of Dermot Hackett who was found dead in his bread van on May 23, 1987. The Castlederg dad had been shot up to 16 times with a submachine gun.
In a statement, his family said “they still live with the heartache caused by the murder of their husband and father, son and brother and not a day goes past without them thinking of him”.