Overview
- Police say Gary Anderson, 29, did not return to HMP Maghaberry after authorised day release and is officially 'unlawfully at large'.
- Officers have circulated a physical description and identifying marks, saying he is about 5ft 11in, slim, with brown hair, a scar on his right hand and a smiley-face tattoo on his left ankle.
- The PSNI urged the public not to approach Anderson and asked anyone with information to call 101 quoting reference 555 of 14/09/26 or to contact Crimestoppers anonymously.
- Anderson was jailed for 15 years in 2023 after being convicted, with his brother Sean, for the 2018 fatal stabbing of father-of-five Karol Kelly in Derry.
- The case has prompted a rapid police search and renewed scrutiny of day-release arrangements used for prisoner rehabilitation and resettlement at Maghaberry, a prison that holds serious offenders.