The Court of Appeal has been informed that the Minister for Justice has accepted a recommendation to grant temporary release to John Shaw, the State's longest serving prisoner. Shaw, aged 73, an English national, has been in custody for almost 44 years following his conviction at the Central Criminal Court on February 9, 1978, for offences including abduction, rape, torture and murder in Wicklow and Mayo. He will be entitled to two days escorted release annually. The court heard that a legal challenge to the Minister's earlier refusal of temporary release proceeded to full hearing in January despite the Minister having already reversed that decision. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy expressed concern that the reversal was not communicated timeously to Shaw's legal representatives, resulting in proceedings that were effectively moot. The court noted the matter without imposing costs penalties. A 2016 risk assessment had identified Shaw as presenting high-level re-offending risk.
Source links
Original report plus public source leads and related archive reports used for review context.
Public source leads
- Killer Shaw bids again for two days of prison release per year - Irish Independent Irish Independent · Sat, 19 Jan 2019 08:00:00 GMT
- Calls made to recognise Elizabeth Plunkett as a legal victim of Ireland's first serial killers - The Journal The Journal · Wed, 18 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT
- Ireland’s longest serving prisoner to appeal failed High Court bid for limited release - Irish Independent Irish Independent · Fri, 18 Jan 2019 08:00:00 GMT
- Serial killer and State’s longest serving prisoner John Shaw to be given temporary release - Extra.ie Extra.ie · Wed, 05 Feb 2020 08:00:00 GMT
- State's longest prisoner granted 2 days of temporary release per year - The Irish Sun The Irish Sun · Tue, 04 Feb 2020 08:00:00 GMT
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