'Assurance Letters' Not Amnesty For Terrorists

The assurance letters sent to around 200 wanted Irish republicans did not amount to a terrorist amnesty, a review has found.

The scheme, which resulted in the collapse of the trial of the man accused over the 1982 Hyde Park bombing, was "flawed" and "unprecedented", the inquiry found, but was not "unlawful".

Lady Justice Hallett said that a letter sent to John Downing assuring him he would not be prosecuted was a mistake caused by a system "open to errors" and that two further letters had been wrongly sent.

The judge-led review into nearly 200 so-called "amnesty letters" was ordered after the collapse of the trial of Mr Downey in February after a judge ruled the letter meant he could not be prosecuted.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) sent the letter even though Mr Downey was wanted by the Metropolitan police - when they realised the mistake they did not act.

Lady Hallett said the PSNI's failure to do anything about the error was "inexplicable in law and logic".

The aftermath of the Hyde Park bombing

The case triggered a crisis in Northern Ireland leading the Democratic Unionist First Minister Peter Robinson to threaten to resign, claiming he knew nothing about the letters.

However, the review found that the deal between Tony Blair's Government and Sinn Feinn in the wake of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement was not a "secret".

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