IRA killer Pearse McAuley found dead in Strabane

McAuley after being arrested for stabbing his estranged wife Pauline Tully

Convicted Garda killer Pearse McAuley has been found dead at his home in Strabane.

The IRA man and Brixton Prison escapee was jailed for 14 years for the manslaughter of Det Garda Jerry McCabe during a botched post office raid in Co Limerick.

His IRA gang, armed with AK47 assault rifles, shot Det Garda McCabe dead and wounded his partner Det Garda Ben O’Sullivan in Adare in June1996.

McAuley was subsequently jailed for stabbing his estranged wife, Pauline Tully, on Christmas eve 2014.

Pauline Tully speaking to reporters about the knife attack carried out by Pearse McAuley

He stabbed her 13 times with a knife and broke four of her fingers at their home in Kilnaleck, Co Cavan.

He also threatened to kill her brother Tommy Tully.

The following year, he was given a 12-year sentence for the attack, with the final four years suspended. He was released from jail in 2021.

McAuley and fellow IRA man Nessan Quinlivan shot their way out of Brixton prison in 1991 with a gun hidden in a shoe posted from Ireland.

He was awaiting trial on charges related to an IRA plot to assassinate the brewery chairman Charles Tidbury.

He fled to the Republic of Ireland and was part of the four-man IRA gang who shot Det Garda McCabe during the abortive Adare post office robbery.

They had inititally been charged with murder but the charge was dropped when key witnesses refused to co-operate after IRA intimidation.

The four were later convicted of manslaughter at the Special Criminal Court.

Sinn Féin tried but failed to secure their release as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

McAuley was granted special release in 2003 to marry then Sinn Féin councillor Ms Tully, who has since been elected to the Dáil (lower house of the Irish Parliament) for the party.