THE FIANCEE of a British soldier gunned down by former INLA boss DecIan 'Whacker' Duffy says he has "got away with murder" after being released just two-and-a-half years into a life sentence.
Last week the Sunday World exclusively revealed that Duffy is back on the streets of the capital, despite being caged for life in July 2010 for the murder of Sergeant Michael Newman in Derby, England, in 1992. The judge ordered that 39-year-old Duffy, originally from Armagh city, should serve a minimum of 24 years, but the psycho terrorist was freed under the Good Friday Agreement.
I expected it. "Why did he give himself up in the first place? He knew this would happen. He just wants to get back to his lovely little family. It's a joke." The couple had been together for five years before Newman was executed by an 'NIA hit squad that had stalked him for three weeks. Elizabeth said she had some comfort while Duffy was in jail, but that has now been shattered.
"It doesn't bring Michael back, but they should serve their sentences. That is my bit of justice," she said. "I just look at it like he's just been allowed to get away with it." Elizabeth Robinson said she has moved on with her life, but that it has not been easy. "Not a day goes by that I don't think about Michael. While you remember someone, they are always alive. No-one can take my memories, not even them. "I haven't stopped loving him and never will. I will never forget what they have done." Elizabeth was in court in July 2010 when Duffy pleaded guilty to the mur-der and was caged for life. She found it a harrowing experience.
CAUGHT:
Clothes dumped after murder "I dared myself to look at him once because that was enough for me. My friends said that when the judge told him to stand up, he didn't quiver or show any remorse, he didn't even flinch." The terror chief told police to apolo-gise to Newman's family on his behalf, but Ms Robinson, who is a nurse, says she will never forgive him. "He wouldn't get forgiveness from inc.
That would not be closure for me," she said. Michael Newman was divorced with a six year-old daughter when he was mur-dered. He worked as a recruitment officer for the army and had never even served in Northern Ireland. He was not even wear-ing his uniform when he was murdered. His ex-wife Dawn Boyle is also angry at the decision to release Duffy.
"I just think the whole justice system is totally wrong. If we were to go over there [Northern Ireland] and do some-thing like that, we'd get life. The whole thing makes me angry," she said. "We knew he wouldn't get long because Joe Magee didn't. It took us 12 years to get Magee and he only did a couple of years. In court, they sat there with smiles on their faces because they knew they would get away with it.
" Gardai are on high alert after Duffy was set free and immediately made his way to Dublin. He is regarded as being one of most dangerous criminals to emerge from The Troubles. The return of Duffy is a hugely signif-icant and worrying development, with senior gardai expecting him to make a move to fill the power vacuum that exists in Dublin's gangland following the Real IRA civil war and the depar-ture of several major drug dealers. Infamous He is being monitored by the Garda Special Branch and left the country for a few days this week to travel to the UK.
It is understood he was meeting an associate regarding getting money to set himself up now that he is free. Duffy led the INLA in the infamous `Ballymount Bloodbath' in 1999. During the notorious incident, an INLA active service unit took six men hostage when they went to a factory in the Ballymount industrial estate in Dublin to demand money from the owner.
The men were viciously tortured, but when 12 of their friends arrived, a mass brawl ensued and INLA volunteer Patrick 'Bo' Campbell died after being struck with a machete. Duffy was caught with a note detailing exactly what hap-pened and was jailed for nine years. When he was released in February 2007 he reorganised the INLA and set about taking over from drug dealing gangs in Dublin 8.
He was eventually arrested and charged with membership of an illegal organisation. In May 2009 he surprisingly pleaded guilty before the Special Criminal Court and publically denounced the INLA. He was jailed for four years. After completing his sentence for DILA membership in April 2010, he was extradited to Britain, where he pleaded guilty to the murder of Sergeant Newman. He was shot at point-blank range in the head in what the judge described as a "heinous crime".
