By Marianne Flood
The elderly parents of Derry prisoner Tony Taylor, who has been now detained in Maghaberry Jail for 624 days without charge, have written a heartfelt letter in today's Derry News pleading for his release.
Mr Taylor’s parents Willie and Veronica, who are both in ill health, say they wrote to this newspaper to ‘explain to your readers how an entire family is affected when a member of a family is in a prison when no charges have been presented in an open court’.
They wrote: "The only thing we know is that he has been detained based on unaccountable intelligence provided by the security services who will not abide by the normal acceptable legal process that should apply in a democracy."
The couple say they are unable to make regular visits to their son due to their failing health and liken his situation to experiencing a death in the family.
And they are very troubled by the effect Mr Taylor’s detention has had on his wife and three children.
They said: "We are particularly concerned about the impact on Tony’s family: in particular Lorraine, his wife who is struggling to cope without him and look after his two daughters Nicole, Ellie-Jo and son Bliain who is seriously mentally challenged.
‘We just do not know how Lorraine deals with this on a daily basis.
‘We are also very concerned about the traumatic impact of prison confinement without a charge or release date on Tony’s health and wellbeing.’
In June lawyers for Mr Taylor served a High Court Writ on the Secretary of State seeking damages for his ‘wrongful arrest and imprisonment’.
Injury
Tony Taylor was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 1994 for his involvement in a Provisional IRA bombing in Derry, during which he was badly injured.
He was sentenced to three further years behind bars in 2011 for possession of a rifle, however, after his release, his licence was revoked in March 2015 on the order of the then Secretary of State Theresa Villierss
The Northern Ireland Office said the licence was revoked by the Parole Commission because of 'the risk he posed to the public'.
Church leaders, politicians, trade unionists and community groups have all stated that Mr Taylor is a supporter of peaceful political processes and have lobbied for his release.
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