SF leadersweren’t onOTR list,says Powell

Last week Secretary of State Theresa Villiers refused to comment on the matter whilst confirming she had seen the list of around 200 people to which letters had been sent.

But briefing the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Mr Powell, who was centrally involved in the process of dealing with OTRs, said: “I cannot remember what the Secretary of State said to you and, as I said, I cannot remember the full list, so I could not give you a comprehensive answer, but I have certainly never seen their names on any of these lists.

“That is not a comprehensive answer, however, because I have not seen all of the lists.”

Last Tuesday (September 9) Mrs Villiers warned around 200 republicans who received ‘comfort letters’ under the administrative scheme for OTRs that they don’t count and that they may be prosecuted if evidence of offending can be produced.

Back in April Kevin McGinty, Director of Criminal Law and Deputy Head, Attorney General’s Office, told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, he believed attempting to prosecute any of the 200 without formally withdrawing the letters would lead to successful ‘abuse-of-process’ challenges as successfully levelled in the John Downey case.