The Justice Minister has been asked to explain how the murderer of an elderly County Armagh couple was released from prison on numerous occasions without the knowledge of his victims’ family.
Michael and Marjorie Cawdery – each 83-years-old – were fatally attacked at home in Portadown in May 2017.
Thomas Scott McEntee – the couple’s killer – was jailed in 2018 for a minimum of 10 years for two counts of manslaughter with diminished responsibility.
In January 2024, the PSNI apologised “unreservedly” for failings in its handling of incidents preceding the murders.
In the days leading up to the incident, McEntee repeatedly came to the attention of police and health services as he battled severe mental illness.
An inquest heard from 40 witnesses and evidence centred around the interaction between McEntee, police and health services in Newry, Warrenpoint, Belfast and Craigavon in the days prior to the killings.
Speaking at that time in 2024, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said: “I recognise that the family of Mr and Mrs Cawdery have had to live with the lasting impact of this horrendous attack and the loss of Michael and Marjorie.
“We have, following the stark findings of the inquest, carried out our own internal review, and a Serious Adverse Incident Review conducted by the Health Trust, established a Gold Co-ordinating Group under Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson, Head of our Justice Department, to develop an action plan to address identified shortcomings and develop our engagement with the Department of Health and other partners. I am keen to reassure the family about our commitment to this work.”
However, just days ago it came to light that the Cawdery family have once again been wronged through the discovery that McEntee had been repeatedly released from prison on pre-release testing without the family’s knowledge.
Justice Minister Naomi Long apologised for the hurt caused explaining that the failure to notify the Cawdery family was the result of an “administrative error”.
Now, Upper Bann MLA, Jonathan Buckley has called for answers from the Minister.
Said Mr Buckley: “Michael and Marjorie Cawdery were good people murdered at home in the most brutal circumstances.
“For this family to now learn, eight years later, that the man responsible for their loved ones’ murders was allowed out of prison on thirteen separate occasions without them even being informed is indefensible.
“This was a catastrophic administrative failure which robbed the victims’ family of their right to be informed and consulted under the Prisoner Release Victim Information Scheme.
“It is simply wrong on every level that this man was on day release, on four occasions unsupervised, while the family remained unaware. It raises serious questions about oversight and risk management.
“I want to ask the Minister of Justice directly how this happened, who is being held accountable, and what urgent steps are being taken to ensure that such failures never occur again?”
