Murder accused receives apology

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The South-Eastern Health Trust has confirmed it has apologised to a man charged with killing two soldiers in March.

44-year-old Brian Shivers, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, was granted bail on medical grounds on Friday.

His defence lawyer said there had been significant shortfalls in the treatment of his condition in a prison hospital.

In a statement, the Trust admitted that Mr Shivers' medication had not been delivered when it should have been.

Sappers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey were shot dead outside Massereene barracks in Antrim by the Real IRA.

On Friday, the accused was told that he would be released from prison for specialist treatment for his condition.

His lawyer Orlando Pownell QC argued that the prison authorities had not provided adequate medical treatment for what he described as a life-threatening illness.

It was claimed that he hadn't been given antibiotics that were crucial to controlling the disease, and that he'd ended up in hospital because of a deterioration of his condition.

The lawyer said Mr Shivers had been told he could not have the anitbiotics because it was a bank holiday.

The South-Eastern Trust provides healthcare at Maghaberry Prison in conjunction with the Prison Service.

The Trust has apologised and said it was investigating what happened.

"Prison healthcare offers a standard comparable to that in the community - a level of medical care similar to that provided by GPs," a statement said.

"It appears the court have taken the view that that was not adequate given his medical condition.

"It also appears there was an error in the renewal of Mr Shivers' medication at the end of August which is currently under investigation."

At a previous bail hearing, prison officials had also been ordered to a transcribe a CD-ROM of an expert witness who treated Mr Shivers, so that they could better provide for him.

It emerged that this hadn't happened.

Lord Justice Coughlan said it did appear an administrative mistake had exacerbated the defendant's condition.

He said that despite his concerns about the seriousness of the case and the risk of re-offending, he was prepared to grant bail.

Mr Shivers' solicitor, Peter Corrigan from Kevin Winters and Company, said he welcomed the apology from the Trust.