Geezah
07-26-2004, 10:36 AM
An Irish terrorist has pleaded guilty to the murder of a soldier who was shot dead near an Army recruitment office more than 12 years ago.
Joseph Magee, 38, of Armagh, Northern Ireland, admitted killing Michael Newman in 1992.
Sgt Newman, 34, was shot in the head at point-blank range as he walked from his office to his parked car.
Magee was given a life sentence, but was expected to be freed within months under the Good Friday Agreement.
The Army recruitment officer was leaving work when he was gunned down.
Magee, a member of the Irish National Liberation Army, a republican paramilitary splinter group, pleaded guilty when he appeared before High Court judge Mr Justice Goldring.
His victim had never served in Northern Ireland.
Magee, who was known as Mad Dog Magee, was arrested in the Irish Republic in 1993 but was controversially freed by the High Court in Dublin in 1994 after appealing against his extradition to England.
Magee based that appeal on claims that his case received unfair publicity in Britain and that the offence had a political motive.
He was arrested in Ulster earlier this year and handed over to Derbyshire Police.
The force's Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Gee said: "The difficulty, of course, is that we are in the hands of politicians in this sort of thing.
"What I would say is that the judge saw fit to give a 25-year minimum tariff and, from a personal perspective, I would like to see that enforced."
BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/derbyshire/3925953.stm)
Joseph Magee, 38, of Armagh, Northern Ireland, admitted killing Michael Newman in 1992.
Sgt Newman, 34, was shot in the head at point-blank range as he walked from his office to his parked car.
Magee was given a life sentence, but was expected to be freed within months under the Good Friday Agreement.
The Army recruitment officer was leaving work when he was gunned down.
Magee, a member of the Irish National Liberation Army, a republican paramilitary splinter group, pleaded guilty when he appeared before High Court judge Mr Justice Goldring.
His victim had never served in Northern Ireland.
Magee, who was known as Mad Dog Magee, was arrested in the Irish Republic in 1993 but was controversially freed by the High Court in Dublin in 1994 after appealing against his extradition to England.
Magee based that appeal on claims that his case received unfair publicity in Britain and that the offence had a political motive.
He was arrested in Ulster earlier this year and handed over to Derbyshire Police.
The force's Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Gee said: "The difficulty, of course, is that we are in the hands of politicians in this sort of thing.
"What I would say is that the judge saw fit to give a 25-year minimum tariff and, from a personal perspective, I would like to see that enforced."
BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/derbyshire/3925953.stm)