Donal Donnelly
It has been revealed that an IRA man who escaped from Crumlin road jail received a Royal Pardon.
Donal Donnelly, 79, was sentenced to ten years on jail in the 50s, after being arrested for membership of the IRA druing their border campaign.
He broke out of the Crumlin Road Gaol on Boxing Day in 1960, using bed sheets, electric flex and hacksaw blades as makeshift tools.
He then went to live in the Republic of Ireland, and even published a book called Escape From Crumlin Road, Europe's Alcatraz.
The news comes as papers were released as part of a new '20 year rule' implemented by the Assembly.
Former Northern Ireland Secretary Douglas Hurd agreed to the pardon in 1985,
An official government letter from the time read: "The Secretary of State has approved the recommendation... that the remainder of Mr Donnelly's sentence should be remitted."