Infamous Real IRA killer Robert Duffy is set to be released any day now from the cushy open prison where he has been serving out a sentence for attempted murder.
Sources have told the Irish Mirror that dissident republican Duffy will walk free from Shelton Abbey prison in Wicklow.
However, Duffy might not get to enjoy his freedom for very long as authorities in the North have begun legal proceedings in the High Court in Dublin to have him extradited back up there to serve out the remainder of his sentence for the IRA murder of businessman John Gibson.
READ MORE: Infamous Real IRA killer Robert Duffy granted day out of prison for driving theory test
The 50-year-old came before Ms Justice Emily Egan during Wednesday’s vacation sitting of the High Court, on foot of a warrant which alleges that he breached the terms of his early release from prison under the Good Friday Agreement.
In 1996 Belfast native Duffy was convicted in Northern Ireland of the murder of John Gibson, whose killing in October 1993 was claimed by the IRA.
Mr Gibson was shot dead in the driveway of his Belfast home because he was the director of a company that did construction work for the British security forces.
Now sources have said that the move to have Duffy extradited was made due to his imminent release from Shelton Abbey.
“He is due for release any day now,” a source said last night (FRI).
“But any chance he had at freedom may now be taken away from him if these extradition proceedings are successful.”
In December last year, The Star exclusively pictured a beaming Duffy as he allowed out of Shelton Abbey to take his driver theory test.
The killer was snapped as he emerged from a theory test centre in South Co Dublin , where he was heard saying he had passed.
Sources said at the time that the convicted killer, who is serving life for an attempted murder in Dundalk, was one step closer to freedom, as this theory test forms part of his potential parole.
Duffy was moved to Shelton Abbey open prison in Arklow, Co Wicklow last year.
He has been engaged in courses and programmes aimed at rehabilitating him back into society.
Duffy, originally from Belfast, was released early from a previous life sentence under the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement in 2000, but he soon got in trouble again when he shot a man in the face in 2007.
Duffy was serving his first life sentence for the brutal murder of company director John Gibson, who he blasted to death in the driveway of his Belfast home in 1996.
The court heard Mr Gibson had worked on a job for the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the IRA claimed the killing.
His murder took place hours after he had been told that he was due to receive an award for charity work.
But following his early release, Duffy was back in trouble again for the attempted murder of Colin O’Neill, who he shot in the face at the Emerald Bar, Dundalk, on March 10, 2007.
For that, the late Mr Justice Paul Carney imposed a life sentence on Duffy, who the court heard had gone into the crowded pub without any disguise, and blatantly shot the man in cold blood.
The Court of Criminal Appeal, with the late Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman presiding, sitting with Mr Justice Liam McKechnie and Mr Justice George Birmingham, rejected Duffy’s appeal against the severity of the life sentence.
In rejecting the appeal, Mr Justice Hardiman said this was “an appalling case” involving “sheer evil”, and they could not find any error.
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