HAZEL STEWART must serve at least 18 years in prison for the murders of her husband Trevor Buchanan (32) and Lesley Howell (31), who was the wife of her former lover.
Stewart (48), of Ballystrone Road, Coleraine, Co Derry has already been given the mandatory life sentence.
Trial judge Mr Justice Anthony Hart told Coleraine Crown Court sitting in Belfast yesterday she cannot be considered for parole until she has served this minimum tariff.
Dentist Colin Howell, her former lover, is currently serving a life sentence with a 21-year minimum tariff following his confession to the murders two years ago and guilty plea last year.
Their victims were found dead in a fume-filled garage in the seaside village of Castlerock, Co Derry, in 1991. They had been murdered and their deaths made to look like suicide.
Stewart’s trial last month heard she was involved in the murder plan, disposed of vital evidence and lied to cover up her role for nearly 18 years.
She was found guilty by unanimous decision of a jury of nine men and three women on March 2nd.
Setting the minimum term for her imprisonment, the judge said that by its verdict the jury accepted Howell and Stewart were both involved in the murder plot.
He said Stewart knew of Howell’s plan to murder their respective spouses so they could be together, and had done nothing to prevent their deaths.
As part of the plan, Stewart was to ensure her husband was to have taken a sedative before Howell arrived at their home to poison him with carbon monoxide fumes. She further had to facilitate Howell by opening the garage door so he could park his car there, and by letting him into the house to murder Mr Buchanan.
Mr Justice Hart further said Stewart knew Howell had already murdered his wife and was there to kill her husband.
Following that killing, she provided Howell with clean clothes so he could dress her husband’s body before taking it away to Castlerock.
There the murder victims were left in a way that fooled others into thinking they had taken their own lives.
Stewart also admitted to police she destroyed evidence including the hose pipe used by Howell to gas her husband, and that she washed the bed covers in the room where he was murdered.
Finally, she concealed details of the murders and gave false accounts to the police and others.
Stewart was entitled to some reduction in sentence to reflect the fact Howell masterminded the plot and carried out the killings after persuading her to take part.
However, the judge said Howell had admitted his role, confessed and given evidence against her during her trial.
He said her plea of not guilty was relevant, as were her repeated attempts to hide from responsibility.
“I consider that she has expressed little real remorse for what she did, rather the sorrow and regret which she expressed to the police was largely because of the situation in which she found herself, and not for the events in which she played her part,” he said.
Victim impact statements from members of the Howell and Buchanan families contained eloquent and moving accounts of their loss, the judge continued.
He also mentioned moving pleas for leniency from Stewart’s current husband and her two children, Lisa and Andrew, who have supported her throughout the case.
Taking all such factors into account, the judge said she should serve at least 18 years in jail.
Stewart, who appeared composed throughout, looked downwards throughout the judge’s remarks to the court and did not respond when he issued his concluding remarks.
Her husband and children, sitting behind in the public gallery behind the dock, also showed little reaction.
All-female prison: ‘greater degree of independent living’ for inmates
HAZEL STEWART has been returned to Hydebank Wood prison in south Belfast where she will serve the rest of her sentence.
All levels of female offenders, from those convicted for non-payment of fines to those guilty of murder, are now held there.
According to the Northern Ireland Prison Service, the block where Stewart is imprisoned has its own communal cooking, dining and living areas. The prison regime aims to provide women there with “a greater degree of independent living”. Prisoners can cook for themselves, and all women retain the key to their room.
“Each room is ligature free and furnished with a bed, a desk, a wardrobe and a TV. All rooms are fitted with a toilet and wash hand basin.
“There is a dining/recreation room on each landing where the women eat their meals and associate with other women. There is also a large outdoor exercise area,” the Prison Service confirmed to The Irish Times.
Staff do not wear uniforms and most are female.
There are currently just 49 women inmates at Hydebank, of whom only eight are serving sentences for murder.
The North’s prison population stands at 1,593.