Killer of Constable Stephen Carroll to wed fiancee behind bars

A dissident republican convicted of murdering PSNI Constable Stephen Carroll is to get married in prison today.
Brendan McConville arrives at Lisburn Court in 2009 house charged with the murder of Constable Stephen Carroll (archive image).Brendan McConville arrives at Lisburn Court in 2009 house charged with the murder of Constable Stephen Carroll (archive image).
Brendan McConville arrives at Lisburn Court in 2009 house charged with the murder of Constable Stephen Carroll (archive image).

Brendan McConville will wed fiancee Siobhan Monaghan in a small ceremony inside Maghaberry prison, Co Antrim.

The former Sinn Fein councillor, who is serving a life sentence for his part in the killing of Constable Carroll back in 2009, struck up a romance with Siobhan after she began writing letters to him from her home in Oxford, England.

It is understood she visits McConville regularly, and has posted images of the pair taken in the visiting area of the prison to social media.

Yesterday, she revealed her impending marriage plans on Twitter: “I’m getting married in the morning. Ding dong the bells are going to chime”.

Justice for the Craigavon Two, a group campaigning for the release of McConville and John Paul Wootton – who was also convicted of Constable Carroll’s murder – congratulated the couple on social media this morning, posting: “The Craigavon Two committee would like to wish Brendan McConville and Siobhan Monaghan a long and happy and hopefully free future together.”

As reported by the Belfast Telegraph, a prison source said: “As far as the celebrations will go, it’ll be a quick ceremony, with tea and buns after.

“There certainly won’t be any big fanfare and there won’t be any bells ringing.

“Guests will be on a strict time limit and the couple will only have a one to two hours alone, and then they’ll have to part ways as well.”

Constable Carroll was shot dead as he responded to a 999 call in Craigavon, Co Armagh, in 2009.

He was the first police officer to be killed since the formation of the PSNI. At the time the dissident republican group, the Continuity IRA, claimed they were responsible for the shooting.

McConville and Wootton had attempted to overturn their convictions but their appeal was dismissed at the High Court in Belfast in May 2014.

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