Gerry Kelly described as ‘dedicated terrorist’ in 1980s file

Gerry Kelly is described as an "extremely dangerous, resourceful and dedicated terrorist" in a newly released state file from the 1980s.

The NIO assessment provided “from the prisons standpoint” in 1986 on Mr Kelly was included in documents released by the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) under the 30/20 rule on secret government papers.

Mr Kelly, now a senior Sinn Féin member and north Belfast MLA, had been jailed for life in 1973 for the Old Bailey and Scotland Yard bombings.

He was among 38 IRA inmates who escaped from the Maze prison in 1983 - the biggest escape in UK prison history- and was later arrested in the Netherlands in 1986.

After his capture, he faced extradition proceedings along with Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane, the IRA prisoner who oversaw the hunger strikes inside the Maze.

Conditions set by the Dutch meant he could not face charges relating to the London bombings, leading the British authorities to cancel the terms.

He was given a reluctant royal pardon from a British official rather than see him freed in Holland. Mr Kelly was extradited back to Northern Ireland to face charges relating to the attempted murder of a prison officer.

“If we accept him on the conditions set out by the Dutch Supreme Court, I assume action will be necessary under the royal prerogative to remit his life sentences,” a senior NIO official wrote in 1989.

“Nevertheless, the use of the royal prerogative to set aside Kelly's (and McFarlane's) life sentences will be extremely controversial and it is quite likely to be widely misunderstood, misinterpreted and misrepresented: London bomber given Royal Pardon etc, in the headlines."