A convicted murderer is allowed out of prison every five days in Northern Ireland, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.

Nearly 40 killers have been granted temporary leave in the last six months.

Three-quarters of all applications for short-term release were approved by prison bosses.

In recent months four killers have gone on the run after being granted temporary leave.

Convicted murderers Samuel McKinney, William Sloan and Patrick Byers disappeared after getting short-term release.

A so-called joyrider responsible for the deaths of three people also vanished.

It has led to accusations that prison bosses are putting the public at risk by releasing too many killers.

Democratic Unionist peer Lord Morrow said the justice system has got its priorities wrong.

"The current process is a disgrace and the whole purpose of prison is debatable," he said.

"Justice should be victim-centred, not prisoner-tailored."

Details of temporary leave for murderers were disclosed by the Justice Minister after an Assembly question from Lord Morrow.

David Ford said 52 applications for leave had been made in the last six months. Approval was granted in 39 of those cases (75%).

Over a six-month period, that is equivalent to one temporary release every five days.

The issue has come under the spotlight after a spate of killers failed to return to jail in recent weeks.

Police on both sides of the border are liaising over the return of Samuel McKinley, a knife killer who absconded while on release from Maghaberry in December. It was the third time he had gone on the run.

William Sloan and Patrick Byers also failed to return to custody in recent months, before handing themselves in to the authorities. Sloan was jailed for his role in a brutal hammer attack on a man in 1989, and Byers was given a 12-year sentence in 2005 for beating his neighbour to death.

A fourth killer, Desmond Savage, also absconded from Magilligan Prison. Savage served an eight-year sentence in 2000 for causing three deaths by dangerous driving. He was back in prison on a range of other charges.

Lord Morrow said justice was not being served, and society was being put at risk. "Those left behind to mourn their loss draw some degree of comfort not only from justice being done, but that a potentially dangerous individual has been removed from society," he said.

"Yet convicted murderers are applying for, and being granted, temporary leave on a routine basis, clearly without restraint or monitoring.

"I can only imagine how traumatised victims feel when they learn the person who robbed them of a loved one by the worst means possible, is enjoying freedom unhindered," he added. "Even worse are the instances in which murderers abscond with considerable ease."

Policing Board member Ross Hussey said killers were getting out far too easily. "A killer's place is behind bars, not out on the streets," he said."It is a nonsense and a very poor indication of the way the prison system is being run."

Mr Hussey warned the practice was putting the public at risk.

"There is always going to be an element of risk if a killer is released on to the streets," he added. "If they are sentenced for a murder then they should serve that sentence in full."

A Northern Ireland Prison Service spokesperson: "Life sentence prisoners are considered for temporary release after a recommendation from the Parole Commissioners has been received by the Prison Service.

"All prisoners are risk-assessed prior to release and a robust management plan is put in place to manage these individuals in the community. Life sentence prisoners only become eligible for release in the last three years of their sentence."

Factfiles

STILL AT LARGE

Desmond Savage: convicted of over 100 offences

Desmond Savage killed three people, including a young couple, while driving a stolen car. Savage (39), who has more than 100 convictions, was released on compassionate grounds but failed to return to Magilligan Prison. He is currently serving a sentence for a spate of unrelated crimes in 2008 when he rammed a police car and broke into a clergyman's home. Originally from west Belfast, Savage received an eight-year prison sentence in 2000 for causing the deaths of Charmaine Watson (27) and her 24-year-old husband Justin in a head-on crash in Ballymoney, Co Antrim. Brian Donnelly, a front-seat passenger in the stolen car, also died in the collision.

BACK INSIDE

William Sloan: jailed over fatal hammer attack

William Sloan, who is originally from Dundonald, was jailed for his role in a brutal hammer attack on a man in 1989. Jimmy Hamilton died after being viciously beaten in his Harrow Street home, just off the Shankill Road. His attackers then ransacked the victim's house. Sloan was subsequently arrested, tried and convicted, but was released from jail on licence in 1999. The licence was later suspended by the Northern Ireland Office in May 2006 and then revoked by the sentence review commissioners. He was given temporary release from Maghaberry Prison last November but disappeared. He later gave himself up to police in Manchester.

BACK INSIDE

Patrick Byers: killed neighbour in vicious onslaught

Patrick Byers was given a 12-year sentence in 2005 for the murder of his neighbour Ciaran Kelly. Byers and his brother John mercilessly beat Mr Kelly (35) to death in front of his girlfriend at their north Belfast flat. The murdered man and his partner had only moved into the flat three days before the attack was carried out in March 2003. Delivering judgment on Byers in 2005, a judge said the murder of Mr Kelly was "brutal, persistent and unremittingly violent". Byers and his brother John were high on a cocktail of drink, cannabis and Diazepam when they kicked, struck and stamped their new neighbour to death. Byers handed himself in on January 12.

STILL AT LARGE

Samuel McKinley: skipped jail on three occasions

Samuel McKinley was jailed after he stabbed his friend Robin Stoddart to death during a drinking session. The 53-year-old had been due to return to Maghaberry Prison after taking part in a pre-release work scheme, but failed to show up. It was the third time he had gone AWOL while on temporary release from jail. In 2012 McKinley was sentenced to a total of two-and-a-half years for being unlawfully at large and breaching a suspended sentence. He was also handed a suspended sentence in 2009 for a similar offence when he went on the run for a total of four days. McKinley is currently in the Republic. Police and gardai are liaising over his return.

Belfast Telegraph