Republican SF member jailed for not paying fine

Cait Trainor, (28), who is chairperson of the Release Martin Corey Campaign, was arrested by police in Lurgan on Saturday afternoon for failing to pay a £700 fine issued by Craigavon courthouse earlier this year.

The rally, held in January 2011, was attended by hundreds of people in support of Lurgan republican Martin Corey who has been held in Maghaberry since his arrest in April 2010.

Mr Corey was released on licence in 1992 after serving 19 years for the killing of two RUC officers in the 1970s. However, his licence was revoked, leading to his arrest.

A statement issued by the Republican Sinn Fein party this week claimed that Cait had been participating in an International Day of Action for Irish Republican Prisoners of War (POWs) demonstration outside Lurgan Police Station when she was arrested. The party added that she will serve a two-week sentence at Hydebank Prison in lieu of refusing to pay the fine.

“Cáit refused to pay the fine of £700 imposed on her and was arrested after once again highlighting the plight of the POWs interned without charge or trial, and also by remand, in Maghaberry jail,” read the statement.

Referring to protests in Maghaberry by republican prisoners, Republican Sinn Fein continued, “The ongoing protest will continue to bring people onto the streets until full political status is restored, strip searching and controlled movement ended and freedom of association granted to the men.”

A police spokesman confirmed that a woman was arrested on October 27 for the non-payment of a fine.