September 2013: Now free and living in Belfast

May 2008

Sicko ‘joker’ in bid for freedom

This depraved killer raped a nine-year-old girl last time he was released from jail on licence— now he wants out again.

Sicko Christopher Doherty last week went to the High Court wanting a judge to grant him a Judicial Review of the failure of the Life Sentence Review Commissioners to decide if he was safe to be released.

Doherty — dubbed ‘Joker’ by fellow inmates at Maghaberry — was jailed for life in 1982 for the murder of a pensioner in Londonderry. Doherty and another man battered defenceless Gerald Farren to death and then robbed him of £20.

After 14 years he was freed on licence, but less than a year later was returned to jail after two young girls, aged just nine and 13, made grim allegations of serious sexual abuse against the convicted murderer.

The two girls gave videotaped statements telling how Doherty (48) had subjected them to the most serious acts of sexual abuse.

Medical evidence backed up their claims that they had been sexually abused in the manner they described and Doherty’s semen was also recovered from the scenes of the alleged abuse.

A criminal prosecution was not taken to spare Doherty’s young victims the ordeal of giving evidence in court. But the incident saw him returned to jail to serve the rest of a life sentence.

When his case was referred back to them, the LSRC decided in 2005 that Doherty should NOT be freed again from jail. However, that decision was later quashed by the Court of Appeal on a legal point, and Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr ordered that a fresh LSRC panel be made up to hear Doherty’s application again.

That new panel, headed by Judge Derek Rodgers, is due to sit again soon to consider Doherty’s case, during which the killer may attempt to subpoena one of the two girls — now an adult — who made allegations against him to give evidence to the tribunal and be cross examined.

Previously the woman has appeared unwilling to relive her ordeal before the LSRC.

In the meantime, Doherty went to the High Court last week in the hope that the LSRC would be compelled to make an immediate decision. The panel has refused to make a decision until it has the opportunity to consider all the evidence to be heard in the matter.

Doherty’s application for Judicial Review was thrown out by Mr Justice Gillen, who raised the horror that would be felt by the public if Doherty was released by the LSRC before it could consider all the evidence to establish the risk posed by him and he then went on to re-offend.

The perverted murderer is one of a number of prisoners seeking an injunction prohibiting Sunday Life publishing their photographs.

Although the LSRC have not cleared Doherty for release, he has been granted temporary periods of freedom from jail. He was sitting casually having a cup of coffee with evil sex killer Ken Callaghan — another prisoner that wants to prevent the public knowing what he looks like — in a Belfast city centre cafe when our reporter approached the depraved duo.

During last week’s hearing, a lawyer acting on behalf of the LSRC highlighted similarities in the case of Doherty and that of child killer Patrick Coleman. Like Doherty, Coleman was also free to walk the streets on temporary release, but had not been deemed safe by the LSRC to be given full release. He went on to commit an horrific sex attack on a woman while on temporary release from jail and is now back behind bars again.