McCann's (Darryl) Application and in the matter of a decision of the Northern Ireland Prison Service
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Scoffield J |
| Judgment Date | 25 November 2022 |
| Neutral Citation | [2022] NIKB 27 |
| Court | King's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 25 November 2022 |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2022] NIKB 27
Judgment: approved by the court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections) *
Ref: SCO11997
ICOS No: 22/072186/01
Delivered: 25/11/2022
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
___________
KING’S BENCH DIVISION
(JUDICIAL REVIEW)
___________
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION BY DARRYL McCANN
FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW
AND IN THE MATTER OF A DECISION OF
THE NORTHERN IRELAND PRISON SERVICE
___________
Justin Byrne (instructed by Emmet J Kelly & Company, Solicitors) for the applicant
Terence McCleave (instructed by the Departmental Solicitor’s Office) for the respondent
___________
SCOFFIELD J
Introduction
[1] These proceedings concern the calculation of the release date for the
applicant, who is a sentenced prisoner in HMP Magilligan. The respondent, the
Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS), has calculated his release date as being
4 May 2023. The applicant contends that this is wrong as a matter of law; and that
he is entitled to be released on 23 January 2023.
[2] The applicant relies on two grounds of challenge, namely irrationality and
failure to take into account material considerations. However, the irrationality case
also amounts to a contention that the respondent erred in law and, if the respondent
was correct in law in its view of the matter, the other grounds of challenge fall away.
[3] The issue turns on the applicant’s status during a period when he had
appealed against a custodial sentence imposed in the magistrates’ court but before
his appeal had been determined by the county court, in circumstances where he had
been released on bail pending appeal but then had that bail revoked. If, as the
applicant contends, he was then detained on remand pending appeal, his time in
custody would count towards the reduction of a later sentence on another matter (a
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