Veronica Guerin’s killer is to remain in jail after objections to his release by her family.
Evil Brian Meehan has not been given a release date, even though he has been detained at the Shelton Abbey open prison in Co Wicklow for over a year. It is understood the Guerin family wrote a long letter to the Parole Board outlining why he should not be allowed back on the streets.
Meehan, 55, has served more than 23 years in custody since his conviction for her murder by the Special Criminal Court in 1999. He had been allowed out on a day release last June to go shopping in Arklow for a few hours.
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The man who drove suspected hitman Dutchy Holland on a motorbike to execute the journalist was moved into Shelton last summer to prepare him for freedom. The authorities saw him as a “low risk” lag since he has kept his nose clean in all his years behind bars.
But the Parole Board has so far declined to give him a release date after strong objections from the Guerin family, who felt that a life sentence should mean life. They are angry at the idea of Meehan getting out in his mid-50s and say that he should at least serve 30 years for his shocking crime.
The average sentence for life in Ireland is currently 18 to 19 years but the Government is looking at a new law giving judges the power to recommend a maximum 30 years for the most despicable crimes. A prison source said: “The Parole Board will decide when Brian Meehan is freed.
"They would obviously take into account the view of the victim’s family. At this moment in time he has not been given a release date and there are no plans to either.
“We know the Guerin family made their feelings known about one of their daughter’s killers being freed at what is still a relatively young age. They are angry that Veronica will never get her life back.”
There is no political will on the part of the Government to see Meehan freed either, but they have no real say in it. Veronica, 36, was gunned down by the two-man hit team at point blank range at traffic lights on the Naas dual carriageway in June 1996.
The suspected shooter, Eugene “Dutchy” Holland, is now dead. The hit was believed to have been ordered by then Dublin druglord John Gilligan after the brave Sunday Independent reporter wrote about him and his criminal empire.
He was never convicted of the crime but got 20 years in jail instead for drug-related offences. Meehan was the only person convicted of the brutal murder.
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