Pearse McAuley

Pearse McAuley (born c. 1965 in Strabane) is a former Provisional IRA member, who escaped from Brixton Prison in London on 7 July 1991 along with his cellmate Nessan Quinlivan, while awaiting trial on charges relating to a suspected plot to assassinate former brewery company chairman, Sir Charles Tidbury.[1]

McAuley fled to the Republic of Ireland, where he was granted bail while contesting extradition to Britain.

In 1999 McAuley was convicted of manslaughter in Dublin's Special Criminal Court for his role in the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe in the course of an armed robbery. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.[2]

He was released from prison in August 2009, having served ten-and-a-half years of his sentence.[3] The Crown Prosecution Service announced it would not seek his extradition on charges related to the Brixton escape.[4] His release prompted adverse commentary in the Irish press, with McAuley being described as a "psychopathic gun nut".[5]

He was married to Pauline Tully, a former Sinn Féin councillor on Cavan County Council, and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cavan–Monaghan constituency since the 2020 general election. The couple had two sons, and eventually separated.[6]

On Christmas Eve, 2014, McAuley was arrested for stabbing his then-estranged wife multiple times in front of their two children.[7] He was found guilty on 28 November 2015, and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on 2 December 2015.[8][9]