Family of Jim McFadden ‘suffering unbelievably’ due to murderer James Meehan’s flight across the border

Transcript

00:00I'm getting increasing correspondence with individuals who are concerned about our justice

00:05system. I can't mention them all but I want to mention this one which I think is important.

00:09That's the case of convicted murderer James Mehan. Convicted in 2009 for the murder of Jim

00:15McFadden in Londonderry. He absconded while on bail but was re-caught and sentenced to 14 years

00:23in prison. In 2022 he absconded again while on day release and was at large for 16 months.

00:33In the Irish Republic he then went under a lengthy legal battle. Everybody knew where he was,

00:42everybody knew his address but he remained at large. When we finally got him back to prison

00:48he was sentenced to an extra nine months. Ridiculous. Lesson learned. Don't let them out if they're

00:55going to go and do a runner. Don't think it for one minute. December 2024 on pre-release he disappeared

01:03again and he's still at large. Gardner know where he is. The PSNI know where he is. He's in Kells

01:14in County Meath and nobody is going to feel his collar and stick him in jail. His family in

01:23Londonderry at this moment in time are suffering unbelievably because the murder of their father

01:28is still at large and nothing can be done to put him behind bars. The reality is he should never been

01:35allowed out in the first place on day release. It should have been one strike and you're out.

01:40And Danielle Bradley and her sister witnessed the murder of their father and they want justice.

01:51And this guy when he's returned to prison needs to get more than a poultry number of months to serve.

01:59It is truly ridiculous. It's time Mr Speaker if we can in this place to start putting the victims first

02:07and not the perpetrators. The moment James Meehan proved himself to be an individual who would

02:14have scorned as soon as he was given time to do that we should have said no. It's not the prison

02:21services fault. They adhere to legislation. We need to change the legislation. And when he disappeared for

02:30the second time absent for 16 months we should have really taken note of this individual and never let

02:36him out the door again. So he serves his full sentence and in fact absconding should have been

02:41an aggravating factor. My thoughts remain with the family of Jim McFadden with Danielle her sister and

02:50her mother who now live without a father. And this man goes to the pub at large and we do nothing about it.

02:56Thank you very much.

02:57Thank you very much.