Woman charged over death of prison officer

29-year-old accused of attemtping to pervert the course of justice in relation to murder of David Black

Prison officers carry the coffin of their colleague David Black to Molesworth Presbyterian Church in Cookstown,  Co Tyrone on November 6th 2012. A woman has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice in connection with his killing. Photograph: Paul Faith/PA Wire.
Prison officers carry the coffin of their colleague David Black to Molesworth Presbyterian Church in Cookstown, Co Tyrone on November 6th 2012. A woman has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice in connection with his killing. Photograph: Paul Faith/PA Wire.

A second person has been charged in connection with the murder of a prison officer in 2012.

David Black (52), a father of two, was shot dead as he travelled along the M1 motorway in Co Armagh to Maghaberry Prison.

The PSNI today said a woman (29) had been charged with perverting the course of justice in connection with the case.

The suspect was arrested by the PSNI in Lurgan, Co Armagh earlier this week. She is due to appear before Craigavon magistrates in Co Armagh on March 5th.

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Last Wednesday, Seán McVeigh from Lurgan was also charged with possessing an AKM assault rifle with intent to endanger life.

He was remanded after appearing before Craigavon Magistrates. A senior police officer told the court he could connect the suspect with the murder charge. The 33-year-old faced the charges in Craigavon, Co Armagh, on Wednesday.

Mr McVeigh is due to appear in court again by video link on February 28th.

Mr Black was the first prison officer to be murdered in nearly 20 years.

A dissident republican group calling itself “the IRA” said it was responsible for the killing.

About 40 dissident prisoners were held in Maghaberry at the time of the murder. They are in dispute with the prison authorities and are seeking political status.