Convicted killer on the loose in Northern Ireland – yet again – without authorities alerting public

It is not the first time that he has vanished.

Nor is it the first time that serious offenders have disappeared in Northern Ireland without the justice system doing anything meaningful to alert people.

The man in question is James Meehan, aged 53, who had been found guilty of murder in 2009.

His fatal victim was James McFadden.

Mr McFadden had been at a wedding on May 4, 2006, in Donegal, which was also attended by Meehan and his family.

At the wedding there was some kind of altercation, reportedly involving insults to the dead man's daughter.

Whatever happened at the wedding, a court was told that Meehan and his family headed back to Galliagh in Londonderry by taxi, then Meehan (who had been drinking all day) drove them to the dead man's house in the Shantallow area of the city.

Once the soon-to-be-fatal victim arrived home, Meehan jumped out of his car and attacked him.

Meehan pleaded manslaughter, saying the dead man had "threatened him with a crutch".

He was given 14 years for murder.

But the day before he was found guilty in 2009, he was let out on bail and fled, spending several days on the run before handing himself in.

The only reason that his most recent disappearance has come to light is because this reporter happened to look at a webpage on the Department of Justice (DoJ) website called Unlawfully At Large.

This says that he went missing on Sunday, October 9.

The webpage says he had been released on "burren home leave" but leaves no clue as to what that is supposed to mean.

Besides putting this notice up on the relatively-obscure webpage above, the DoJ did nothing to alert the media about the disappearance.

In other words, the only way the public can know a murderer is on the loose is if a reporter happens to visit that part of the DoJ website on a day when he is missing.

In the meantime, the DoJ has issued five press releases, on things ranging from marking "prisons week" to £100,000 in funding being awarded to search-and-rescue organisations.

– AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN –

The News Letter has repeatedly uncovered examples of the same thing happening in the last few years.

On April 28 this year, the News Letter reported that alleged conman Elijah Martin Gavin, then 26, had vanished from HMP Magilligan two weeks earlier.

Once again, the DoJ had put his name and picture up on the Unlawfully At Large part of its website, and that's all.

He remains at large.

On August 31 this year, James John Hanrahan, aged 49 (and with offences listed as assault, burglary, and dangerous driving) failed to return to Maghaberry.

On the same date 36-year-old Jonathan Vize (offence: GBH with intent) also failed to return.

The News Letter noticed they were missing some three weeks later while visiting the DoJ website.

It transpired that Vize had actually turned up on August 30, and Hanrahan on September 5, and the DoJ had just mistakenly left them up for a couple of weeks as missing persons.

Much the same thing happened in 2018 when the News Letter reported that four convicts, including two with murder convictions, had gone missing in the space of a fortnight, after this reporter came across that information by chance on the DoJ website.

What’s more, about six months later, the News Letter discovered that the DoJ had mistakenly removed one of these on-the-run killers - Thomas Lawrence McCabe - from that wanted list.

McCabe, then aged 55, was jailed in 1990 for murder, after killing an 18-year-old relative of his girlfriend in a drunken jealous rage.It was at least the fourth time that he had absconded.

But even when the News Letter pointed out to the DoJ that he had been wrongly removed from the public register of missing criminals, it took another three days for the department to reinstate him.

The DoJ has been asked on previous occasions by the News Letter why it does not publicise cases of absconding to help trace the on-the-run offenders.

It said: "The current list of UALs is published on the Department of Justice website.

"We provide information on our public pages of those individuals who are currently UAL solely to ask the public to inform the police if they see anyone matching the given descriptions.

"Once an individual is no longer UAL their details are removed from the site.

"The information of those no longer UAL cannot be released as disclosure of the information would contravene individuals’ rights under data protection principles and so the Freedom of Information exemption at Section 40(3A) (Personal Information) is thereby engaged."

- THE INFAMOUS MCLAUGHLIN CASE –

Arguably the most extreme case of heel-dragging over a wanted person though was the disappearance of Damien McLaughlin in 2017.He was arrested in 2012 as a suspect in the murder of prison warder David Black.

While awaiting trial for aiding and abetting murder and other paramilitary offences, due to begin in February 2017, he was allowed out on bail.

Required to report to police five times a week, he last did so on November 18, 2016.

When police searched his west Belfast address on December 23, 2016, they found a bottle of milk, one month out of date, but no McLaughlin.

On January 3, 2017, police finally notified the PPS that he was missing, and three days later a prosecutor revealed this at a hearing in Belfast Crown Court.

McLaughlin, who had previous weapons convictions, was eventually found and acquitted of all charges.

In a statement this afternoon via the DoJ, the NI Prison Service said: “People in our care approaching the end of their sentence are often tested prior to release back into the community.

"Individuals progress by fully engaging in a number of tests which challenge and support them to make positive change in their lives around health, thinking patterns and attitudes towards their offending behaviour.

"After being fully risk assessed, they begin a graduated release programme into the community, firstly under supervision then progressing to short time bounded periods of unaccompanied release where they work in the community.

"Testing by its nature has some failures and it is better this is done in a controlled way with robust checks by the Prison Service.

"Preparing people for release is a vital part of rehabilitation as it reduces their risk of re-offending which helps to make the community safer.”

They also said that the reference to “burren home leave” refers to a place called Burren House, a “working out unit” for prisoners nearing the end of their custodial sentence.

The DoJ also said that once a prisoner is missing it is a matter for the PSNI.

Meanwhile the PSNI said: “Police are actively seeking this individual and anyone with any information as to his whereabouts should contact police on 101 or submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/.

"You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/.”

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