The sister of a man whose killer has been on the run for eight days has said her family had no idea he had been released from prison to attend his father’s funeral until after he absconded.

Gary Anderson and his brother Sean were jailed for life in 2023 for the murder of Karol Kelly in Londonderry in 2018.

Anderson was freed from Maghaberry prison for two hours last Monday after a court sitting the previous day overturned a decision by the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) not to release him.

Francesca Kelly said the failings had been “at the highest level” and she wanted to raise these face-to-face with the Justice Minister Naomi Long.

Speaking for the first time since Anderson went on the run, Francesca said her family were only told about his release from prison in a phone call just before 14:00 BST on Monday, hours after it had happened, and after he had gone missing.

“At that stage the prisoner had already absconded for a few hours, so we weren’t aware at all of any application for compassionate leave,” she told BBC News NI.

“There was initially a sense of disbelief.

“I felt that maybe he would go missing for a few hours but eventually hand himself in.

“We certainly didn’t think we would be sitting one week and a day later with him still at large.”

She said the past eight days had taken a heavy toll on her family, describing it as “exhausting”.

“You work hard to move forward in your life,” she said. “You work hard to ensure the loved ones still here are okay and can move forward in their lives.

“But the trauma, it sits quietly within each and every one of us and it only takes one slight trigger, and you’re right back to that night, you’re right back to that graveside, you’re right back to that courtroom – and that’s a very difficult place to be.”

Francesca said the justice system had let a lot of people down, including Karol’s five children, the wider family and the jury at the trial who listened to “thorough, onerous and sometimes difficult evidence”.

“It has also let down those brave witnesses who took the stand to ensure that they could share what they’d seen and experienced that night,” she said.

“So yes, that is all the justice system has let all of us down, because their one job was to ensure that the sentence imposed by Judge Babington was adhered to, and it has not.”

Asked if she had a message for Anderson, Francesca said the family had decided they were “not going to give energy to either him or that”.

“But for me personally, I just find there’s a big difference between being free and having freedom,” she said.

“And I don’t think a life where you’re constantly looking over your shoulder, where you’re living on your nerves, where you’re not able to integrate in society or with those you love, I don’t call that being free.”

She said she believed that in time, Anderson would be “returned to his cell”.

“And I trust that once the consequences of this situation are laid bare, this may not have seemed like as good an idea.”

The justice minister has apologised to the Kelly family and agreed to meet them to hear their concerns.

The circumstances surrounding Anderson’s release have sparked a political row in Northern Ireland, with Long denying on Monday that she had misled the assembly over the matter.

She has now ordered an independent review into what happened and said she understood why it would be distressing for Karol Kelly’s family that one of his killers remains on the run.

A day before the funeral last Monday, a judge granted Anderson a two-hour compassionate temporary release (CTR) from Maghaberry Prison to attend.

It came after the application was originally denied by prison officials.

His brother Sean had also applied for compassionate leave from a different prison, Magilligan, but the decision to deny that application was upheld by the judge.

The funeral service took place at St Mary’s Church in the Creggan area of Derry last Monday morning.

Anderson was not given permission to attend cremation in Letterkenny, County Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland that afternoon.

At some stage on Monday morning, he absconded from his court-approved civilian chaperone.

Court documents show that the chaperone appointed by the court to accompany Anderson during his father’s funeral is a relative of the prisoner.

He is identified in court documents as an uncle; there is no suggestion of wrongdoing on his part.

Policing and justice expert Danny Shaw described it as a “very unusual situation”.

“I can’t remember, certainly in the UK, ever there being a situation like that where someone’s been allowed out for a funeral without a prison officer or police officer in close attendance,” he said.

Questions were raised over the granting of Anderson’s compassionate temporary release (CTR) following the publication of the full 15-page judgement from the judicial review of the Prison Service’s decision.

The judgment found that the decision to refuse Anderson’s request was based on inaccurate information about the risk he posed.

The decision had been taken by the duty governor at Maghaberry Prison.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Rooney found that an internal assessment of Anderson’s likelihood of reoffending had been recorded at a higher level than the score held on the Prison Service’s internal system.

A legal representative for the Prison Service told the court that the increased score had come from a colleague rather than the duty governor’s personal knowledge.

When the system was checked, Anderson’s score was 27, indicating a medium likelihood of reoffending, rather than 32, which had been recorded as a high likelihood in the decision letter.

The judge found that the duty governor “clearly took account of this incorrect information” when assessing the risks and considering whether the decision was proportionate.

There is a question mark about what happened after the judge knocked back the original decision.

According to the judgment, the judge invited the duty governor to reconsider the decision, but that offer was declined.

The judge described the decision not to review it as “somewhat surprising” and he granted Anderson temporary release subject to a number of conditions, finding that the Prison Service’s decision was “flawed” and had taken into account “irrelevant and incorrect factors”.

The judge said the failure to secure and take account of the correct risk assessment was unlawful.

However Long, whose department oversees the Prison Service, has said a procedural failing by the Departmental Solicitor’s Office (DSO), meant prison officials were not told that the judge had offered them the chance to reconsider their decision not to release Anderson.