Public confidence in the justice system has been “damaged” by the circumstances surrounding the temporary release from prison of convicted murderer Gary Anderson, Justice Minister Naomi Long has said.

Anderson, who is one of two brothers jailed for life in 2023 for the 2018 murder of Karol Kelly in Londonderry, remains at large a week after he absconded while attending his father’s funeral in Derry last Monday.

Naomi Long, who is to meet the murder victim’s family, is ordering an independent review into the circumstances surrounding Anderson’s release from Maghaberry Prison.

That happened after a court overturned a decision by the prison service to refuse him permission to attend the funeral.

A day before the funeral last Monday, a judge granted Anderson a two-hour compassionate temporary release (CTR) from Maghaberry Prison to attend it.

The funeral service took place at St Mary’s Church in the Creggan area of Derry last Monday morning.

Anderson was not given permission to attend cremation in Letterkenny, County Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland that afternoon.

At some stage on Monday morning, he absconded from his court-approved civilian chaperone.

CTR can be granted to prisoners when a family member has died or is seriously ill, but the decision to release them takes into account the circumstances of the case and any risks involved.

Questions have been raised over the granting of Anderson’s CTR following the publication of the full 15-page judgement from the judicial review into the Prison Service’s decision., external

The judgement found that the decision to refuse Anderson’s request was based on inaccurate information about the risk he posed.

The decision had been taken by the duty governor at Maghaberry Prison.

In his judgement, Mr Justice Rooney found that an internal assessment of Anderson’s likelihood of reoffending had been recorded at a higher level than the score held on the Prison Service’s internal system.

A legal representative for the Prison Service told the court that the increased score had come from a colleague rather than the duty governor’s personal knowledge.

When the system was checked, Anderson’s score was 27, indicating a medium likelihood of reoffending, rather than 32, which had been recorded as a high likelihood in the decision letter.

The judge found that the duty governor “clearly took account of this incorrect information” when assessing the risks and considering whether the decision was proportionate.

He invited the duty governor to reconsider the decision, but that offer was declined.

The judge described the decision not to review it as “somewhat surprising” and he granted Anderson temporary release subject to a number of conditions, finding that the Prison Service’s decision was “flawed” and had taken into account “irrelevant and incorrect factors”.

The judge said the failure to secure and take account of the correct risk assessment was unlawful.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme on Monday, Long said a procedural failing by the Departmental Solicitor’s Office (DSO), meant prison officials were not told that a judge had offered them the chance to reconsider their decision not to release Anderson.

Long said that the DSO had acknowledged a “procedural failing on their part” and this was “not communicated at any stage”.

“We have identified that that offer was not passed on to the decision-makers within Prison Service at that time and so we have only become aware of it when the full judgement was actually published and we were then able to refer to the transcripts.

“I’m setting up a completely independent review because our understanding would be that it would be for our legal advisors from the department, the Departmental Solicitor’s Office (DSO) to come back to us and there was contact between Northern Ireland Prison Service and our solicitor during this period but it didn’t include any reflection that the judge was offering an opportunity to reconsider or re-evaluate or provide additional information and that’s absolutely key.

“It’s a normal process when it goes to court that the judge may ask for more information, may ask for more clarity and that offer was not made to Prison Service and therefore we were in a situation where it rested in the hands of the judge and the judge in good faith made the decision based on the information that he had.”

Speaking on Monday, Long apologised to the family of Karol Kelly and acknowledged the impact Gary Anderson’s release and subsequent absconding from prison has had.

She said she was “desperately sorry that they have been put through this trauma as a result of whatever has happened” and said she was commissioning and independent review.

“Whatever miscommunication, whatever poor information, they should not have been subjected to this ongoing trauma and distress, and I can only apologise genuinely for that.

“I will be meeting them, obviously subject to their wishes. I received a letter last week from Mark H Durkan, and I wrote back and said that I would be happy to meet with the family at their earliest convenience, and hopefully that will be able to happen soon.

“I don’t want them to be drawn into this, I don’t want them to feel any further distress.”

Long has said all relevant facts must be established and carefully considered and is to update MLAs on Monday about the case.

“I am concerned enough about this case and I think it’s important to say by the impact that it has had on the Kelly family and they are first and foremost in mind at the moment,” she said.

“I am absolutely convinced that we need an independent review because public confidence in the system has been damaged by this regardless of where the error lies and I want to be absolutely confident that we have all of the facts of the case and that we can take mitigating measures to ensure that there is no repetition of this.”