Report into "on the run" letters to be published today

The letters allowed a man accused of carrying out the Hyde Park bombing to walk free from court.

A REPORT INTO controversial letters that granted IRA suspects immunity from prosecution will be published today.

Earlier this year it emerged that there was a quiet agreement by the British government not to prosecute IRA suspects who were on the run, and the Irish government knew about it.

This deal allowed John Downey, the man accused of carrying out the IRA bombing in Hyde Park in 1982, to walk free from court.

Some 187 letters were sent to IRA suspects telling them that they were no longer wanted by police.

British Prime Minister David Cameron ordered a review of the system, with the North’s First Minister Peter Robinson threatening to resign over the issue.

The review was led by Lady Justice Hallett and will be published at 11am and is expected to produce a full review of the system, including whether or not the letters contained errors.

Read: On-the-run letters scheme slammed as ‘secret postal service for the IRA’

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