“the learned judge who granted bail [] did not have the power to do so in the particular circumstances of this case”

Despite earlier reports that the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, had ordered Martin Corey’s re-arrest following the judicial review ruling for unconditional bail in the case, it appears he merely sought a stay while an appeal was prepared.  The Belfast Telegraph notes the Appeal Court’s initial ruling

A judge who granted unconditional bail to a convicted double murderer did not have the power to do so, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

Martin Corey is now expected to remain in jail for at least two more months after lawyers for the Secretary of State were granted a stay on his release.

And, although it’s not online yet, the Irish News quotes from the ruling

…Lord Chief Justice Declan Morgan, sitting with Mr Justice McCloskey, ruled that a connection between the life sentence imposed on Corey and his imprisonment has not been broken by the passage of time.

“In our view, having regard to our conclusion that there was a connection between sentence and detention, the learned judge who granted bail, understandably in light of the matters open to him and not having had the same extensive submissions on authorities we have had, did not have the power to do so in the particular circumstances of this case,” he said.

Enforcement of the bail order was stayed until a full hearing of the appeal, listed for September 28.

Although the judges refused leave to appeal their determination to the Supreme Court, Corey’s lawyers will still seek to make a direct petition.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin’s Raymond McCartney, deputy chair of the Assembly’s Justice Committee [and noted plagiarist! – Ed], wants to define when “due process” ends[When the ruling is the one they favour? – Ed]  You might very well think that…

In an interesting twist, Jim Gibney uses his Irish News op-ed today to complain that

A carefully planned campaign of intimidation orchestrated by MI5 is directed at David Ford, the north’s justice minister, the life sentence parole board inside the prison and the north’s judiciary.

The basis of this intimidation is vacuous testimony secretly sourced and provided by members of the intelligence agencies alleging that Ms Price and Mr Corey are a danger to the public because of their association with dissident republican groupings.

[That’ll be the Dark Side, again… – Ed]  Indeed.  And how does he know that the testimony is “vacuous”…

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