THE arrest in Cork two weeks ago of triple killer Alan Patrick Reeve (49), who escaped from Broadmoor Hospital, was determined by British police, who supplied Cork gardai with the necessary papers.
Chief Supt Adrian Culligan said that, although the authorities knew of Reeve and his whereabouts at different addresses in the city for some months, it was only two weeks ago that the extradition papers were passed on to the Garda.
He said the procedure was that when extradition papers were filed by a foreign police force they were passed on to the Garda Crime Branch in Dublin and then vetted by the Attorney General. He added that Reeve was not wanted for any crime in the Republic, but once the British police had sought his extradition he was arrested.
On Monday, the High Court in Dublin refused Reeve an application for bail during an extradition hearing.
It is now known that Reeve had been living in Cork for almost two years and had a son with his partner, Ms Anne Murphy.
On October 15th, 1964, Reeve was convicted in Britain of the manslaughter of a 15-year-old youth and sent to Broadmoor Hospital under the British Mental Health Act without a limit on his detention. On November 17th 1967, he was convicted of the manslaughter of a fellow patient, after which he absconded.
He went to Holland where, in 1982, he was convicted of the manslaughter of a policeman during an armed raid. As negotiations between the British and Dutch authorities were continuing regarding his extradition, after he had served a 10-year sentence for the manslaughter of the policeman, Reeve fled to Ireland.
In Cork he signed on the social welfare register and became eligible for job placement. He was referred to FAS and later became eligible for employment under one of the community employment schemes.
Mr Gregory Craig, of FAS, said there were 3,000 such schemes in the State and, although they were funded by FAS, the policy was that recruitment was always undertaken at local level.
He said it was unfair to suggest that the local employment scheme - in this case the Cork women's poetry circle, to which Reeve had been seconded - or FAS had been negligent. Reeve had obtained a BA in Arts from the Open University and appeared to be a suitable applicant.